A Demon's Heart
by Tsuki Yosuke
Summary: Maylene has always liked Sebastian Michaelis, the esteemed, perfect Phantomhive butler. But after the fire Pluto caused, she seems to be the only one left alive. When Sebastian returns, it's a blessing to Maylene...or is it? A Sebastian x Maylene fanfic.
1. Beginning Credits please read!

**THIS IS A WARNING TO YOU ALL. THIS STORY CONTAINS MANY SPOILERS, LITTLE-KNOWN CHARACTERS, AND BORING BEGINNING CREDITS, STARTING NOW.**

Now, to explain myself. This is a fanfiction written for Kuroshitsuji, the most awesome anime that regrettably few know of and appreciate. However, there are those who choose to only watch the anime, or just read the manga. This is not entirely for those people.

This fanfiction takes place at the end of the first season of Kuroshitsuji the anime. However, I both read and watch the series, so there will be a character mentioned that only appears in **one** chapter of Kuroshitsuji.

Elizabeth Midford's mother, whom Ciel refers to as "Aunt Francis", appears for a short time, in chapter 14 of the manga, right after the case of Jack the Ripper has been solved. She was a great character to use in this story, so I not only refer to her character in passing, but create a main role for her.

For those who have watched the entire anime, you only need to read that single chapter. Francis Midford is a great character, even if she only appeared as a relief from all of the miserable agony that had been taking place in the story.

**Therefore, here is my decree: Everyone who wishes to understand this story fully MUST read Chapter 14 of the manga, EVEN THOUGH the story takes place at the end of the first season of the anime. Francis Midford is not a fan-made character, and you can check with Toboso Yana's work to see for yourselves.**

Now, I thank all of those whom have read my tirade and have gotten this far without thinking of me as sounding like their English teacher. I highly appreciate it.

I would like to give very, very slight inspirational credit to:  
"_Chains of Command"_ by Eilike  
"_Mi Amor"_ by Innocence Incarnate  
"_A Simple Cry"_ by ChibiDaveyHavok

I have to admit it, I _may_ have taken an idea or two from these works. For those who haven't read them yet, I highly suggest that you do. It's hard to find any good Sebastian x Maylene fanfics anywhere.

Kuroshitsuji is a work copyrighted by Toboso Yana. I do not own any of the characters, no matter how much I may like to or how hot they are.


	2. Misfortune

_Maylene was floating in a darkness. There were sounds, but they seemed so far away…and it was so peaceful there, in that darkness, that she didn't want to leave. Just…float; just be._

"Maylene!"

_Huh, Maylene thought. How odd. That last sound sounded like…_

"Miss Maylene!"

_Just a little longer, Maylene thought. Just a little….._

"Miss Maylene! Please wake up!"

Maylene blearily opened her eyes. The London street looked blurry through her eyes. There was a hand on her shoulder, shaking her. Her sleepy eyes roamed around and fell on someone lying down across from her. He looked familiar. Maylene squinted.

Blonde hair, a white outfit, and a large gun next to him….._Bard_.

Maylene gasped as she sat straight up, then coughed the smoke from her lungs. Her friends were lying around her; Bard, Finny, and Pluto. Agni was sitting over her, worried as she looked around quickly.

London was burning to the ground. People were screaming, running for safety with the little they could save. The flames had engulfed the entire city, licking away at the night air through the shattered windows of falling buildings, manifesting all that was chaos and destruction. It resembled Hell, with the flames and screaming surrounding them. Maylene shuddered as she fell forward into Agni's arms, coughing and shuddering at the destruction. Entire buildings that had once been painted white were now charred black and glowing red from the fire and its havoc.

"Quickly, Miss Maylene," Agni said, "we need to get out of the city! Prince Soma is waiting for us!" Agni tugged Maylene upright, pulling her away from her friends. "We must leave! Quickly!"

Maylene weakly went after him, half staggering and half being dragged away. "Wait! What about Bard and Finny! We have to- *cough, cough*- we have to get them!"

Agni grimaced and turned away from her. "Come on!" he shouted, pulling her towards the park where Prince Soma was waiting. Maylene protested as much as she could, trying to pull away from Agni, not wanting to believe what she had seen in his grimace.

_They couldn't be – could they? No…no…!_

Maylene was dragged by Agni away from the fire, towards wherever their destination was. All the while, as Maylene was being dragged away through the wreckage and chaos, the screaming and the destruction, coughing through the smoke, away from her newly gone friends, tears stinging her eyes, caused by the sadness and agony as much as the soot and ash, questions rang through her foggy mind.

Firstly, where was the Ciel Phantomhive, her young master? Why did her friends die, and not her? Why did Pluto have to start this horrible fire? Why did this have to happen? But most importantly, about the one she loved, that perfect, unchanging Phantomhive butler…..

Where was Sebastian Michaelis?

~X~~~0~~~X~

Afore said demon was on an unknown island, dragging the dead body of Ciel Phantomhive across the barren clearing. His left arm had formed anew, Ciel's soul having fueled his regenerative abilities after having been starved such a long time. However, the wait had been worth it. This soul had tasted exceptional; an evil one to be sure, with a touch of the sadness that had plagued the child since his parents' passing. The demon was now more powerful than he had been before coming into the child's service, after devouring _that_ master's soul.

The demon pulled his previous master's body behind him, dragging it through the dirt. The small boy's dead body did not complain or make demands like it had when it was alive.

_All the better_, the demon thought, looking around him. _Ah, there it is_. The demon came upon an area where there was a slight pit, surrounded by a ring of dirt mounds. A smirk showed itself on the demon's face as he picked up the body and threw it into the pit. The demon then sat down on one of the mounds around the pit as his own dark aura swirled around him. He raised his left hand. His demonic eyes gleamed red, and the pentacle on his hand glowed brightly in response. Suddenly, ravens swooped down from above with incredible speed and were soon feasting on the small boy. The demon smiled and let his hand drop, pleasantly watching the grotesque scene.

Many a time had this certain demon come to this island for his masters' final moments. He would watch as their bodies were devoured, ripped to shreds by the local birds, or as they plummeted to the murky depths of the surrounding ocean. He would smile, watching the bodies being mutilated, recalling any humiliations and troubles that he had gone through and thinking: _It had all been worth it_.

This certain master had caused him much pain and hunger, not to mention troubles galore. However, as he watched the small body being ripped into pieces, being devoured by the ravens as his master had wished, he felt better. With any luck, the others were gone too. The useless servants were probably dead, saving him the trouble of cleaning up another one of their messes ever again, and if Agni were to die in the fire – well, it was better for a demon to not have any friends. Such things could have very bloody results.

When the birds had calmed down and were not picking at the now unrecognizable flesh as viciously, the demon sighed and leaned back. The meal had been better than most, so perhaps he could rest a few months before going back into another mortal's service. As the demon thought of this option, one of the ravens glided over to where he was. The raven squawked hideously, then began to transform into an ugly creature that was more familiar to the demon. Black feathers swirled around it, disguising and amplifying the ugliness of the creature.

The demon looked down in recognition and sighed once more. "Haitius, what are you doing here?" the demon asked of his imp minion. "Is there news?"

The imp looked up with his large black eyes. "Yes, Sire. I've come here to warn you."

The demon raised one eyebrow imploringly. "About what?"

"You see, Sire, that last battle you had with the fallen angel Angela wasn't exactly subtle. You revealed your true form in that battle, thereby revealing your dark energies to the world. While the ignorant humans may not sense it, even a lowly imp like myself was able to locate you quite easily." The imp hesitated, thinking about what he was to say, then went on. "Since it is only if you are searching for a specific energy that a supernatural being like ourselves may sense it, there would usually be little to worry about. However, since you are so powerful –"

"Get to the point, Haitius. I have already learned all that you speak of. What do I have to worry about? My enemies have all stopped searching for me out of boredom or disinterest, and very few know what my energy is. In any case, wouldn't the angel's energy that practically exploded out of her being at death have covered my own energy?" The demon leaned forward. "While I'm at it, I may also add that while you are an imp, you are the only one of my minions who still cares enough to search for me at all. Have not the others given up on controlling me at this point?"

The imp winced and replied, "True enough. However, I was not the only one searching for you. While all of the others may have ceased to care whether you live or die, your father –"

The demon suddenly hissed at the imp, shouting, "Do not speak of him! I have told you this enough times!" The imp stared into the fearsome eyes, glowing angrily down at him. After a moment, the eyes lost some of their intensity and the demon calmed down, and he spoke again. "I am sorry for losing my temper with you. You did no wrong. Go on."

The imp cautiously went on, looking up at his master as he spoke. "Your father was searching for you when you released your energy so recklessly. He had never stopped searching for you, not even when everyone else did. After you ran off, he murdered your elder brother out of insanity. Since you are the second eldest, he has been looking for you, wishing to impose you as the new heir to his power."

The demon's eyes were now widened as he understood what Haitius was telling him. However, the imp continued. "Sire, your father now knows where you have been hiding. His power makes him slow to get here, but he will come. And when he does….you will be brought home once again."

After a silent, motionless moment, the demon stood. He walked slowly over to the beach where the small boat rested, his mind turning over images of his father, of the absolute power he wielded, and the situation came fully to his mind.

"It's hopeless, then." The demon quietly whispered to himself. "Father…he is more powerful than I could hope to be." The demon straightened up, ridding himself of his dark aura, returning to his human form. In a louder voice, he said, "There is nothing for it." Sebastian headed for the boat, determined now.

The imp minion ran after him. "Where are you going, Sire?"

Sebastian turned around, a look of hopeless determination on his face. "Do not call me 'Sire' in this form. I am to be called Sebastian Michaelis, the name I was given, until I say otherwise. I am going back to London to clean up the mess I made there." Sebastian looked forward once more, walking towards the boat. "If anything, Father does not like a mess."

"Si- Sebastian, you surely do not mean to say that you are going to help rebuild London?" Haitius had known his master to be talented, but this?

Sebastian had reached the boat and was preparing to take off. "Of course not. If I were to do such a kind thing it would only be a disappointment to him. No, I mean to cease the existence of Sebastian Michaelis. If there are any who are left to remember and tell of me, that would mean that I had left a mess." Sebastian now had the oar in his hands and looked to the imp once more before departing. "I must see who has lived through the fire. I could more than likely convince people to never mention the name 'Sebastian Michaelis' ever again. I will kill them, if I must." Sebastian sighed and held his face in his hand. "However, that would cause a bigger mess to clean up….I'll fix it somehow."

So Sebastian took up the oar and shoved off of the dead island, off to clean up the mess in London.


	3. Return

Maylene wandered down the halls in a depression. Prince Soma and Agni were outside in the London streets, giving away curry bread to those in need. She was left alone in the young master's townhouse in London. Tanaka had come to London and had heard about Bard and Finny. After he had heard about them and had had some tea, Tanaka had left without a word. No one knew where he had gone off to, and Maylene was left alone in the house.

Maylene was morose, wandering down the halls of her young master's townhouse. Every time she looked around, memories of her young master Ciel, of her friends Finny and Bard, and of her love, Sebastian, kept returning to her mind, haunting her, never letting her truly rest.

It had been a week since the fire, yet there was still no word from either Sebastian or Ciel. Elizabeth was in tears waiting for her fiancé to return, and was so distraught that her mother (whom Ciel used to call "Aunt Francis") had offered Maylene a new position as a maid in the Midford manor. She was currently thinking it over, but didn't think it would go too well. She hadn't magically gotten better at her work. At least here Agni could fix her mistakes, but in another manor, she would quickly be scorned and thrown out.

Maylene had worn black dresses since the incident, mourning for her lost friends. She was still hoping that the young master or Sebastian would come back; whether they were in tatters or not didn't matter to her anymore, as long as they were safe and came back soon. Her hope didn't do much to lift her spirits, however. If anything, it was more painful to hope with the memory of her dead friends still fresh in her mind. Sometimes she would cry from the excruciating pain in her heart that throbbed with every heartbeat, never fully ceasing, reminding her over and over again that her friends were dead, that Sebastian and the young master may never return.

It was about six o' clock when Maylene heard the knocking at the door. As she wandered over morosely to the door, she hoped it wasn't more people who had come over to question about Ciel's whereabouts. She couldn't take much more of them, no matter how many times she told herself to hold out just at little longer, to not give in just yet. Trying to control the sinking pit of dread in her stomach, Maylene walked to the door and answered it.

"Good afternoon," Maylene said, opening the door, "who is–" She stopped short as she saw the raven-haired man dressed in black on the doorstep, utterly frozen by who it was.

Sebastian looked up and smiled slightly at Maylene. "Good afternoon, Maylene. It would seem that you've gotten better at greeting others."

Sebastian stepped forward, expecting a barrage of questions, having to sit down and tell her that Ciel was dead, to deal with the sobbing and crying that would then ensue. However, as he stepped forward, he unexpectedly lost his footing as he was tackled by Maylene. He stumbled backwards and caught himself, keeping himself and Maylene from toppling down the steps.

Maylene couldn't help it. As soon as her mind realized that Sebastian had returned, had come back, she promptly ambushed him. She didn't care at the moment what he would think of her, as long as he was _real_, real and alive. Maylene breathed in his scent while she could (without seeming indecent) and tightly squeezed the handsome man she knew so well. She didn't make a sound, but small tears came to the corners of her eyes.

This moment lasted a while until Sebastian spoke. "Maylene, just what –…what are you doing?"

Maylene realized with a shock what she was doing and let go, suddenly embarrassed. She wiped at her eyes and stood back, keeping her face down to try and hide the blush on her face. Sebastian just stood there blinking for a minute, not moving.

Maylene saw him and started to panic. "U-um, Sebastian, I-…I just-…"

Sebastian blinked one more time, then sighed like he usually would. "Well," he said, "there is nothing for it." He looked up again and Maylene thought he was going to say something to her, maybe even scorn her. She took a step back into the house, but it proved to be unnecessary, for he simply walked through the door and closed it after him.

Sebastian looked to Maylene and said, "Come." He then walked on past her and further into the townhouse. He got to a door and paused, looking back at Maylene, who hadn't moved yet. "Maylene, I asked you to come."

Maylene jumped. "Y-yes!" she replied, running after her love. Maylene looked after Sebastian with a worried expression, looking him up and down, searching his appearance to see if he was alright as she followed him. He seemed to be in one piece, but his clothes were ripped and torn, and there were some strange stains on them. Maylene was mostly relieved, however. Though she worried after him a bit, she felt like a huge weight had lifted from her heart.

They arrived in the parlor room and Sebastian turned around. "Maylene, I'm going to make some tea. Would you rather sit here, or…?" Sebastian motioned over to a nearby chair. Maylene started, surprised that he would be asking her that. He should be the one sitting down, not her.

"I-I'm alright! I'll just follow you." So Maylene followed Sebastian to the kitchen and watched him prepare and make tea. There was silence between them, neither one attempting to make conversation. It was not uncomfortable, however. Maylene was just fine with having Sebastian back, and Sebastian was not in a rush to try and explain to Maylene that her young master was dead. Once the tea was prepared, Sebastian loaded the tea things onto a cart and wheeled it into the parlor room, Maylene close behind him.

Sebastian was impressed. Through all of this, Maylene had not had even one close call. Usually there would have been a clumsy episode or two, but it seemed that –

He had thought it too soon. Maylene tripped on the hem of her dress and fell forward. Sebastian quickly stopped the cart, turned around and managed to catch her before she reached the floor.

Maylene quickly became her old, embarrassed self. "I-I'm so sorry, Sebastian!" Maylene blushed as it did not go unnoticed to her that her crush was holding her in his arms. As Maylene righted herself again, she stammered, "I-I thought th-that I had gotten past that! I-I'm sorry!"

Sebastian sighed and replied, "It's alright, Maylene. I was actually expecting this sooner."

Sebastian and Maylene then went on to the parlor room. In the door of the parlor room, Maylene's blush doubled as she finally realized the implications of what Sebastian had just said.

Sebastian motioned for her to sit down and she did, trying not to think too much about her own clumsiness. Sebastian had soon served them tea and was sitting down across from her. After a minute or two more of silence, Sebastian spoke.

"Maylene, there's something I need to tell you."

Maylene started at the sudden break of silence. "W-what is it?"

"About Ciel…" Sebastian paused and put down his teacup. Maylene held tightly to hers, nervous about what he was going to say. Sebastian took a deep breath. "Ciel is gone."

Maylene was frozen, trying to take in what he had said. She wanted to ask so many questions, but found that she could only squeeze out, "….eh?"

"Ciel, he….he fell off of a bridge," Sebastian told her, the statement being true but misleading. "The young master is dead." Alright, so maybe he had left out quite a few details, but did she really need to know? She was going to die soon, anyways.

Maylene looked like she was going to reply, and Sebastian braced himself for a thousand questions, but there weren't any. Instead, she only asked, "Are you sure he's dead?"

"Yes," came Sebastian's answer. "I'm sure."

There was no more from Maylene except, "Oh."

Tears came to Maylene's eyes. They poured down her face as she mourned for her young master, now as out of reach as Bard and Finny. She couldn't hope for his safe return anymore. The same boy who had helped her away from her old life, the one who had given her a new beginning…was gone. Just like that.

Sebastian had not expected her to be so mature. He had expected her to bawl and cry her eyes out, screaming out, 'Why?' over and over again. Even the local merchant had caused a ruckus when he had visited him. Really, the attachments that humans have –

"UUWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"  
Both of them jumped at the sudden bawling. The source of the sudden noise had come from outside the door. Sebastian got up and went to the door.

"My prince, please, calm down and tell me what's wrong."

"Uwwaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Aaaaggnniiiiiiiiiiii!"

"My prince, calm down –" Agni looked up and saw Sebastian walk through the door. "Sebastian?" Agni's face lighted up. "Sebastian!" Agni's attention was wrenched back to his prince with another loud bawl. "Erm, Sebastian, could you please help?"

Sebastian looked down at the childish prince and sighed. "Prince Soma, would you please tell us what the matter is?" As he said this, Sebastian came forward and kneeled down next to Soma. Maylene stood in the doorway, still too depressed by the news to help.

Soma grabbed Sebastian's jacket and found breath between his sobs to speak. "S-Sebastian…is Ciel really g-gone?"

Sebastian started, but then relaxed. _He must have heard me say it just now_, he thought. "I'm sorry, Prince Soma, but it is true. The young master is dead."

Soma dropped down to his hands and knees, letting go of Sebastian. His head hung, tears fell from his eyes to the cold floor. "Uuuu…uuuuuuuuuhhhh…."

Agni's eyes widened with shock. "Sebastian….Ciel is dead? But how-…" Agni watched Sebastian stand up, looking at him for some explanation.

Sebastian closed his eyes and answered. "The young master fell off of a bridge. Ciel died." In his mind, he thought, _He did fall off a bridge, and he did die. I just didn't mention the part in between_.

Agni remained frozen for a moment, then lowered his eyes. He put his hands to his face and wept, trying not to show too much weakness in front of his prince. However, his tears leaked between his fingers and trailed down his hands, staining the bandages on his right.

Sebastian lowered his gaze as well, but not in mourning. Behind his eyelids, he saw a certain weak thirteen-year-old's body being torn apart shamelessly by ravens, his biggest problem of the time being taken care of. Sebastian usually would have had trouble not smirking at this macabre image, but the issue of his father kept his expression in check quite well. There would be little freedom after he came.

Maylene was still in the doorway. She hadn't moved, but instead had lowered her gaze and kept to herself. Now there was almost no one left. They had all been taken away by their deaths.

After a moment of this, Sebastian looked up again. "If you would all listen to me, I have something to tell all of you." He waited patiently until they were all looking at him and went on. "I need to ask something of you. I need you all to try and forget that I ever existed, if you could."

The other three were shocked again, but quickly recovered to object. Shouts of "You can't!" and "But you just came back!" rose from them. Sebastian placated them as best as he could, and had almost appeased everyone except for Maylene.

"No! You can't just leave again!" Maylene was crying again, and now it was Sebastian, Soma, and Agni who were teaming up against her.

Agni moved forward. "Maylene, I know that this is hard for you. It is for us, too. But if Sebastian has to leave, I'm sure he has his own reasons."

"Well, I won't let him just vanish again!" Maylene replied. "Sebastian, if you have good reason to leave, why don't you tell us?" Maylene turned to Sebastian with an accusatory look.

Sebastian had dealt with trouble before convincing others to accept it, but Maylene was proving rather difficult. "I told you, it is very hard to explain. Please, though, I need you to try and forget about me. At least don't mention my name anymore."

Maylene couldn't take this. She had already lost so much, and now the love of her life was asking her to forget him? The one thing that she had left? "No! Until you give me reason to do otherwise, I'm never going to just _forget_ you for your convenience!" Maylene stormed off with a tear-stained face, heading straight for her room, not tripping even once.

Agni and the prince just looked to Sebastian. Sebastian stood there silently for another moment, thinking. Then he looked up to the other two.

"May I stay here the night?"

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. He was forced to stay the night because of Maylene. His father was coming soon, and he had no time to waste. But it seemed that everything would have to wait.

Haitius had returned to his raven form. He now followed Sebastian, helping him to find those who had moved because of the fire. He was probably somewhere nearby, waiting on a branch. Sebastian had told Haitius what had happened, his imp-servant only nodding and going off into the night. Technically, Haitius was the demon's guardian and guide in the human world, but he had long outgrown him.

Sebastian wasn't thinking of Haitius much, however. He was thinking about Maylene. What could have caused such an outburst? He knew, though. Maylene had fallen in love with him. Sebastian knew that. But it had only been a crush, hadn't it? She had never approached him, had never given any sign that she was anything more than a fan.

Sebastian sighed. Humans were so troublesome at times.

He wouldn't find joy in it, but if Sebastian was forced to kill her, then kill her he shall. It wasn't as if it would cause him much guilt. He had killed others before, numerous others, so one more couldn't make much of a difference.

His mind went to Tanaka. He had found the old man on the street and they had talked. He and Tanaka had walked together around London, and Sebastian had led the old man a ways into the forest near the manor, after they had visited it. They had found a clearing and had taken tea there. They had talked amicably enough, and Tanaka had seemed happy.

Tanaka had reached for the tea and was surprised when the last of the tea came out. "Sebastian, we may have to go back to London soon."

Sebastian had smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. We'll be fine without it."

They had spoken for a while longer when Tanaka had run out of tea. "Well," he had said, getting up, "it seems we need to go back now."

"Tanaka, if you would stay a minute more, I have something to show you." Sebastian had reached behind his back, under his coat, and touched the certain 'something'.

Tanaka had looked at him, dumbfounded. "Well, if you had something to show me all this time, why did you wait until now?"

Sebastian had looked up at him. "Tanaka, you said that you had no where else to go, correct?"

"Well, yes," Tanaka answered, confused. "What about it?"

Sebastian clutched the gun hidden under his battered tailcoat. "You would probably tell someone your life story at this point, no matter what I told you?"

Tanaka relaxed and smiled slightly. "Sebastian, I already told you. I cannot make myself forget you suddenly, no matter how many times you ask. I'm an old man now. An old man should be able to live the rest of his life in peace. I won't keep quiet about you just because you wish me to."

"I was afraid you would say that. Well, there is nothing for it, then." Sebastian had pulled out the gun and had seen Tanaka's eyes widen with comprehension before he pulled the trigger.

The gun he had killed Tanaka with was now in a drawer by his bedside. When he had killed the old man, there had been no regret, just like any other time. He had been about to die anyway. His body was now somewhere in the river, tied to the bottom with the pot as a weight. There was no discomfort in killing him, and there should be no disappointed feeling when killing Maylene.

Sebastian couldn't kill Maylene there, though. Agni and Soma had accepted him leaving them, and he had no need to put doubt in their minds. He would stay and try to convince Maylene a few more times before he murdered her.

_It shouldn't take too long_, Sebastian thought. So he shut his eyes and relished in the luxury of sleep.


	4. Confliction

Sebastian walked throughout the townhouse, searching for Maylene. It had been three days, yet Maylene still showed no sign of yielding to his arguments. During his stay, he had tried to persuade her to change her mind and forget him, but she had been stubborn, and had seemingly grown fond of staying out of the house or talking with Agni and Soma to keep herself preoccupied. If she kept this up, there would be no choice…

Sebastian had decided to try and convince her once more before resorting to such measures. _If I must_, he thought, _it should be relatively easy_.

Street crime happened all the time, didn't it?

However, as he scoured the halls, there was no sign of the girl. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Prince Soma or Agni, either.

"Maylene!" Sebastian called out. "Agni! Prince Soma!" _Where could they be?_

~X~~~0~~~X~

While Sebastian searched the townhouse for her, Maylene lay hidden in the cleaning supply closet with Agni and the prince. Sebastian's questioning her had become too much for her to handle the evening before.

Maylene had been dusting the various things around the house, now without an owner. She had been nearly overcome with grief then, wondering why it had to happen, why Ciel had had to die. She was so overcome with her thoughts, that she did not notice when she had stopped cleaning and just stood there in her own agony. Sebastian had walked by just then, seeming to have appeared out of nowhere.

Sebastian had cleared his throat, just like he used to. "Maylene, what are you standing there for?" When Maylene hadn't responded, he had sighed and stood next to her for a while, looking at her. If she had been her normal self, she would have loved the attention, albeit with much embarrassment on her part.

Sebastian had tried to see her face, but she had her head hung with her bangs in her face. He had seen this face before, but he did not enjoy seeing it now.

"Maylene," Sebastian started, "could you at least look up?"

After a silence, Maylene had wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and looked up at the former butler. "I'm fine," she said, "just….a little sad, is all."

"Is it about…everything that happened?" Sebastian had asked. She had been grateful for once that she couldn't see his face clearly.

"…." Maylene hadn't spoken for a minute, not for any depressing reason, but because that she felt like she had almost _needed_ him to look at her right then. There had been no embarrassment like there would have been. She had just needed the comfort. "Yes, it's about that. But I'm alright." Maylene tried to smile for him, but it hadn't given him any reassurance.

Sebastian seemed to think over about something for a moment, and then had said the words that were now driving Maylene to tears. "Is it because I'm here?"

Even if Maylene could have spoken in that moment, there had been nothing to say. After her silence, Sebastian had gone on.

"If I had left here before now, I might not have reminded you of such things…" Sebastian had paused and gone on. "Please think about it." Then, without another word, he had left, leaving Maylene standing there, still in shock from what he had said.

Now Maylene was on the verge of tears, hidden in a closet with her two closest friends.

Agni looked at Maylene worriedly and said, "Maylene, why did you bring us here? You don't look so well…"

"Maybe she needs to eat curry!" The prince interjected. "Would you like some of Agni's curry, Maylene?"

Maylene simply shook her head. "I-…I need to talk to you guys about something."

"What is it?" Agni asked. "Yes, Maylene!" the prince whispered excitedly. "What is it?"

Maylene hesitated and put her head down into her arms, mumbling incoherently. With all of the stress from needing to make Sebastian stay, she had almost forgotten how embarrassed she could get. However, the others couldn't hear what she was saying.

Prince Soma, being without much subtlety, said, "Well, come on, Maylene! We can't hear you if you talk like that! Speak up!"

"My prince," Agni started, "I think you must give her time to speak."

"Eh?" replied the prince. "Why would you –" At that moment, Soma looked at Maylene and saw what his reliable servant meant. They sat in silence for some minutes, waiting for Maylene to speak.

Maylene gathered her will and spoke to her friends. "You two said that you were going to just…let Sebastian leave, right?" Feeling uncertain, the two nodded their heads. "Well, I – I need you to help me."

"You need us to help you let go?" Agni asked, confused.

"No!" Maylene looked up to glare at Agni, tears in her eyes. "I need you to tell him to stay!"

Agni was frozen by her glare. Prince Soma, not as affected, said, "But, Maylene, if he needs to leave, he has reason, just like he said. Why do you want him to stay so badly?"

"Because – because I love him!" Maylene went back to hiding her face, the tears in her eyes now dripping down her face. While she was quietly sobbing, Agni and Soma exchanged looks.

Agni looked back to Maylene and asked, "You….you are sure you love him?"

Maylene sniffed and said, "Yes, yes! I've liked him since I first laid eyes on him!" _Why, why can't he just stay with me…_

"Maylene…." Prince Soma, having been through heartbreak before, knew himself how painful it was. "Have you ever told Sebastian this before?"

Maylene was silent for a moment, dealing with the regret in her chest, before answering. "….no. I haven't." Curling into a tighter ball, she tried to deal with the pain. "I – I wish I had…."

Agni and Prince Soma exchanged looks once more and nodded to each other. They knew what they had to do.

Both of them looked back to Maylene and opened their mouths –

"Is this where you were?"

All three of them looked up to see Sebastian standing over them. Maylene's immediate reaction was to hide her face in her arms. Her one true love, seeing her like this…! _This – this could be the end…_Maylene thought.

Sebastian sighed. Humans seemed to like to cause difficulties. While he was thinking of a distraction for the two Indians, he asked them, "What are you three doing in here?"

Agni and Soma stood up. Being on the same page, Prince Soma replied, "We were just talking about things, Sebastian. Now we both need to talk to you."

Sebastian gave him a questioning look. _Humans DO like to cause trouble_, he thought. "What is it?"

"Sebastian, me and my prince have been talking with Maylene, and we think that you _should_ stay." Agni said.

"What?" Sebastian was taken aback. This so-called "friend" of his was putting him two steps back from erasing his name from the Earth. Father was coming soon. _Such difficult humans!_

"Yes!" Prince Soma said. "And if you leave, we will spread your name all the way to India!"

Maylene looked at them at this. She managed to give a slight smile. She was so happy that they were helping her. Sebastian, on the other hand, wanted to strangle the two of them. What kind of incessant disease could have filled their minds? These humans seemed to change their opinions every two seconds!

Sebastian did not voice his frustration, though. "Would you mind at least telling me why you changed your minds?"

Agni saw Sebastian's face and knew he was angry. Being his friend, Agni knew when Sebastian was upset, though Sebastian himself may not have known it.

Agni stopped Prince Soma from explaining, quickly interrupting him. "We would tell you Sebastian, but I think I know a better way for you to learn."

Sebastian's only reply was, "Eh?"

Though Prince Soma was off-put, he didn't interrupt his servant's plan. Agni went on. "Sebastian, I need to show you something. Please, come over here…"

Sebastian let himself be led to the closet, wondering what was to be seen, when Agni suddenly came up behind Sebastian and shoved him in, making him nearly trip over Mayelne. Maylene, shocked, looked from Sebastian to Agni, who gave her a thumbs up.

Maylene realized their plan just as Agni shut the door and shouted, "My prince, please get the keys!"

Sebastian quickly recovered himself and turned back to the door. "Agni, what are you doing?" he shouted, pounding on the door.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian, but this is for your own good!" Agni looked back and took the keys his prince handed over to him.

Sebastian, not even trying to hide his anger anymore, shouted back, "Whose own good, you traitor!"

Locking the door, Agni said, "I'm sorry, Sebastian! Let us go, my prince. They need to be alone."

And so Prince Soma and Agni left Sebastian and Maylene trapped in a closet to sort out their issues.

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**I'm sorry if this update took long, but I've been busy.**

**The reason I am putting this notice down here is to tell you guys that I'm going to try and update every other week from now on, if not sooner. Also, to say that if this chapter is shorter than usual, it's because there's not much else to put. I tried. If I put anything else, I would be boring you with useless descriptions.**

**Please review! =)**


	5. Acceptance

Prince Soma and Agni were walking down the halls of the townhouse, headed towards the room with the television in it. While they had left Sebastian and Maylene alone to talk, Agni saw his prince was worrying, biting at his thumb.

Agni smiled and said, "Don't worry, my prince. I'm sure they will work things out."

Prince Soma stopped biting his thumb and looked at Agni in surprise. However, it quickly passed, and Soma replied, "Agni….they can talk to each other in peace, now. So why do I worry for Maylene?" Agni remained silent, and he continued. "She said…that she had never told him before. What if she doesn't tell him now? Wouldn't he leave?"

Agni put a comforting hand on Soma's shoulder. "Maylene said it herself, didn't she? She wants to tell Sebastian her feelings for him. If she's as sure of herself as I think she is, it will be alright."

After a moment of silence, the prince said, "Of course." He then smiled brightly, regaining his old enthusiasm. "Of course! They will be fine. So, Agni, we should watch the magical talking box and eat curry!"

"Yes, my prince!" They both became their usual selves once more, waiting for their friends to get along.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian glared at the door, his willingness to spare Agni's life ebbing away every moment he was confined in this cursed box. He could have at least trapped him in a bigger room than this closet. Not caring that Maylene was there, Sebastian fumed on, angry thoughts showing on his face.

"One good kick should be sufficient…" Sebastian murmured, getting ready to break down the door.

"Um…Sebastian?" Maylene whispered, seeing his face.

Sebastian turned. "What?" he said briskly.

"Sebastian, I – I need to talk to you."

That caught his attention. _Perhaps this is why they changed their minds earlier…?_

Sebastian thought for a minute, calming down with some deep breathing. When he was relaxed, he wordlessly sat down next to Maylene and waited, eyes closed and listening.

Maylene's heart thudded in her chest. She stared at Sebastian for a while, her face not turning red for once. Maylene just took in the image of Sebastian right then, keeping it close to her heart, knowing she might not ever see this again. She had nearly lost him once, but if he left, she would at least have told him before he vanished forever.

After a few minutes had passed, Maylene shook herself out of her reverie and cleared her throat. Sebastian opened his eyes and looked patiently at her.

"Sebastian," Maylene started, "I've wanted to tell you this for a long time now, but I was always too nervous. Even before I knew who you were, you seemed to be perfect. You were the perfect, infallible butler, and I was, well….clumsy." Here she had to fight the blush coming to her face, but she continued. "Even though there was that, everything was fine, until….."

There was a moment of silence. Sebastian was left to wonder about what the girl was getting to, before she eventually went on.

Maylene spoke again with her head lowered. "When you came back, I thought that it was a miracle, but then you insisted on leaving again. I….I just want you to listen to me first, even if you leave anyways. Sebastian…" Maylene reached out and took his hand in hers. "Sebastian….I love you. Please think about staying, even if you do leave….please."

By the end of her confession, Maylene was nearly in tears and was squeezing Sebastian's hand almost painfully tight. Sebastian looked at her hand, feeling pity for Maylene. Demons could rarely ever love another, and he did not love her. He could not return her feelings, and he had no time to even pretend. Haitius was waiting outside, and his father was coming soon. But even though he knew this….

Maylene waited in the dark closet, holding on to Sebastian's hand, tears not quite pouring from her eyes. This was it. All of the nervousness, all of the panic, all of the hoping and praying and embarrassment had come to this.

An unusual cold distracted her from her heart's agonizing cries. This was the end. She was sure of it.

Sebastian reviewed his thoughts and pondered his decision one last time before squeezing Maylene's hand hard and saying, "…..alright."

Maylene blinked. She must have heard him wrong. "Eh?"

Sebastian sighed. "I said 'alright'."

"What…."

Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can't you hear? I'm accepting your confession."

Maylene _had_ heard him, but her heart was torn between going numb and jumping for joy. "So," she managed to say, "w-would that mean th-that we're…..a couple?" She blushed at her own words, but she needed to know.

Sebastian hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, we are now a…." He cleared his throat and looked away, mumbling, "…..a couple."

Maylene smiled as her heart stopped its shrieking agony and instead fluttered with joy. She couldn't help but let the tears she had held back pour now down her face unrestrained. She leaned into Sebastian and wrapped her arms around his arm. Her heart was filled with the love she felt for him, overflowing with her tears, and she had never been so happy in her life.

"Thank you," she whispered.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian was in his room again, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. Going through his mind were thoughts of his plan, of his new relationship, and of Maylene.

Maylene had matured since the fire. She was no longer so much a clumsy maiden as much as a true lady. No matter what the humans thought of themselves, they were usually immature and childish in some way or other, with weak willpower and very little _true_ power. However, Maylene had more knowledge of this concept than most. It was almost….attractive.

Sebastian was nervous though. Yes, nervous. The cruel demon of Hell, the second eldest son of Lucifer who embodied all darkness and crushed hope, was having the jitters. For a simple reason, really.

Sebastian had never had a girlfriend before.

Sure, there had been many a one night's stand. That was natural for him, following his own instinct of lust and helping others to break the seventh commandment. But never once had there been a true attraction, had there been anything but regret for the others and victory for himself.

Now there was love involved, a complicated and unpredictable feeling that had proven itself unfailing in Maylene's heart. Demons knew of this force, that love was directly linked to hate, and of the many ways of turning a loving couple into an ugly pairing. Sebastian would not break Maylene's heart that way, but he knew others who would be more than willing soon enough. Perhaps he should –

There was a tapping on his window. Outside, a raven cawed twice.

_Too late_, Sebastian thought as he got up and unlatched the window.

The wind blew the window open and a raven flew inside. It perched itself on a bed post and ruffled it's feathers, ridding itself of the water and dirt that had accumulated after being in the grimy city for three days.

Haitius didn't bother to change his form. "What is your wish, Sire?"

Sebastian flinched at his title. "I have asked you before to call me Sebastian for now."  
"Of course….Sebastian."

"I must ask a favor of you, Haitius."

This request surprised the imp. His master should know that he was at his service. However, the demon's face revealed nothing.

"Whatever you wish," the raven replied.

Sebastian paused, seeming to deliberate something, before stating the request. "I need you to give this letter to a certain undertaker I know. He lives at this address," he said, pointing to the address on the envelope. "Try not to reveal yourself to him. Once you deliver this, go to the woods for a while. This may take a longer time than I thought."

Haitius didn't say anything, taking the letter in his beak and waiting for the demon to open the window. He flew through the damp London air, wondering who this undertaker was.

There was something different about the demon, the imp knew. But he ignored it. Whatever his master wished, it was his duty to grant.

No matter what.

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**I felt bad about the earlier chapters being so depressing. I was even depressing myself... So here's to not crushing your hearts yet.**

**I wrote this quicker than usual because I have a lot of free time for now. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up quickly like this as well, but don't count on it.**

**Please review!**


	6. Together

It was dawn in London, soot covering the roads and lower walls, burn marks decorating the rest. A raven was perched on top of an old building that barely stood, a letter clutched in its beak. The raven stared at a sign that spelled "Undertaker" across the street. The building seemed to be one of the few in London that had gone unscathed by the flames that had engulfed the city just a couple of weeks ago. It seemed to be protected by something other than human.

The raven, being cautious, had nestled itself on top of the roof for most of the night before and had been waiting for the resident across the street to come outside. The sun was now mostly over the horizon, coloring the sky shades of pink and yellow.

The door across the street opened and out came a very strange…..human? No, it was a shinigami, with long silver hair, clad in a black robe and hat. The death god wandered down the street, towards the barrels that were clustered in front of the neighboring building.

_Now_. The raven quickly swooped down to the shinigami's doorstep and dropped off the letter. It then flew away, cawing as it headed towards the forest.

_Sire has had many deals_, thought Haitius, _but this one isn't for me to know of_.

The Undertaker stopped rummaging through his barrels and looked up at the fleeing raven. He had been filling his jar with more treats and had heard the noise behind him. Straightening himself up, the Undertaker saw the letter lying on his step.

The Undertaker smiled. He went over, already chewing on a new treat.

_Maybe it's another fan's note_, he thought. Ever since he had helped with the London fire incident, he had been receiving a lot of kind letters from the other shinigami. Grell was now an enormous – perhaps enamored – fan as well.

When the Undertaker reached his doorstep, he bent over and picked up the letter, holding it carefully so that his long, black nails didn't hide the fancy script underneath. The handwriting did not look familiar. It was a neat, legible cursive, unlike the hurried writing of the letters from fans that he had read before.

The Undertaker merely smiled, his half-finished treat in his teeth. _Who could this one be from?_, he wondered, readjusting his hold on his things to open the door.

He walked around the coffins laid around his shop, navigating his way to the desk. Business had been booming, and for two reasons. First, there were many more deaths because of the fire. Secondly, many of the other undertaker's shops had burned down, which made him a very busy person indeed.

He put down his treats on the counter and sat down in his chair. Still smiling creepily, the Undertaker took up the envelope with both hands and looked at the handwriting again.

"Now, who could you be?" he thought aloud, opening the letter with his nails.

The Undertaker read through the letter. He was no longer smiling when he had finished. Staring at the letter, unbelieving, he read through it once more, seeing if he had interpreted it correctly.

"This…is…"

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian was right to send Haitius away. If he had seen him under such circumstances, there was no doubt in his mind that Haitius would never cease to harass him for it. There would have been long nights listening to Haitius scorn his for allowing himself to be put through such misery.

"Sebastian, why don't you go spend some time with Maylene?"

Sebastian didn't need Haitius's scorning. The Indians' "encouragement" was enough.

Agni and Prince Soma had been glad, to say the least, to open the door and find Maylene asleep in Sebastian's arm. They had left the two there for two hours, distracted by the television and curry. Agni at least had apologized first, but Soma had immediately demanded that Sebastian carry Maylene to her bed. They had been badgering him to be romantic with Maylene, to hold her hand, to be sweet. Ironically enough, they were badgering him so much that Sebastian had kept his distance.

Now they were preparing dinner and Maylene was down the hall, reading. Agni was worried that Sebastian hadn't changed. His black-clad friend hadn't treated Maylene differently than before.

Sebastian sighed. "Why do you keep insisting on this?"

"Well…" Agni hesitated. "It's just that….wouldn't it be better if a new couple became more acquainted with each other?"

"I can understand that," Sebastian said, "but we still need to eat, don't we? I can speak to her later."

Agni's eyebrows drew together into a worried expression. "But Sebastian –"

Prince Soma chose that moment to burst into the room. "Sebastian!" There was a slight flinch as he looked up, but Soma went on. "Really, now! You're leaving Maylene alone! Go on, Sebastian," he said, striking a flamboyant pose. "Show your love!"

"My prince!" Agni exclaimed in reverence.

_He's almost the Viscount of Druitt_, Sebastian thought.

Prince Soma turned his attention away from Sebastian. "Oh, Agni. I want some shrimp curry. Please make it quickly!"

"But my prince," Agni said, "that is still in short supply…."

Sebastian put down the knife he had been chopping with and watched them bicker for a few seconds before making a quiet exit. He sighed, putting on his coat as he walked down the hall.

He needed a break from these two, he decided. He kept walking, headed to his room.

Maylene opened the door to the library and saw Sebastian down the hall. She had just finished reading a book on fairy tales, and had stories of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty in her mind.

_Where could he be going?_, she wondered as she began to follow him.

Maylene followed Sebastian for a while, keeping a good distance away while being sure not to lose him. After a minute, they were almost at the door to his room. Maylene's heart fell. Even though she and Sebastian were together now, her heart panicked at the thought of him leaving her. Without thinking, she ran after him and grabbed his arm.

Sebastian stopped, surprised to have Maylene clinging to his arm. He looked at her, waiting for some kind of remark. However, there was none. Maylene continued to cling to his arm in silence, her head lowered, nuzzling into his shoulder.

Sebastian made no move to escape, instead letting the girl hold on to his arm. She looked like she was upset again, though he knew not why. So he stood there, letting the silence go by uninterrupted.

Of course, after a few moments of this, a fellow does become impatient.

"Maylene?" Sebastian asked. "Are you alright?"

Maylene started. "Eh?" she asked, looking up.

"Are you alright?" Sebastian reiterated.

Maylene realized that she was still holding on to Sebastian's arm, but didn't let go. "Ah. I'm fine…." she said, muzzling back into his shoulder.

Sebastian sighed. Humans were so helpless, sometimes. With his other hand, he gently touched her shoulder.

"What's wrong, Maylene? I won't know unless you tell me."

Maylene remained silent a moment longer, relishing in the attention she was getting from Sebastian. Her face turned pink, her shoulder where Sebastian's hand was had gotten hot, and her heart beat fast in her chest. It was an effort to think clearly, and she tried to focus on answering him.

_Yes…_she thought. _I truly…truly…..love this man_.

Slowly, Maylene found the words to speak. "Sebastian…..could we just….be together, for a while…?"

Sebastian didn't hesitate long. "Follow me," he said, now taking her hand in his.

He led her down the hall and stopped at a door nearby. Maylene realized that this was his room. Before she could say anything, though, she was pulled inside and Sebastian had closed the door behind them.

Sebastian motioned to the bed. "Sit," he said simply.

Maylene couldn't move. Her thought ran wildly around her head.

_Ah….ah…_she thought. _I-I'm…in S-Sebastian's room…!_

Sebastian sighed at the hopeless girl's embarrassment and pulled her towards the bed. Maylene was too shocked to believe what was happening, so she moved stiffly after him. Sebastian had to slowly direct her there, but soon enough they were both sitting on the edge of the bed.

Sebastian looked at Maylene's face, blushing red with embarrassment. _Really_, he thought, _why am I doing this?_

"Maylene." Sebastian put his hand over hers, triggering another fit of embarrassment. Amused, Sebastian said, "Why are you embarrassed _now_? Didn't you want to spend some time together?"

Maylene looked up at him from her downward gaze. Her beloved Sebastian was hiding a smirk under his other hand, trying not to laugh. She wished that she could be as confident as he was. Maybe then they could be happier as a couple. Sebastian had been so nice, being with her like this. The least she could do was be a slightly better person for him.

Suddenly, a thought came to Maylene. "Um….Sebastian?"

"Yes?" Sebastian stopped smirking as looked over at her.

"I-I was wondering…" Maylene paused to gather her thoughts and started again. "I was wondering…why don't you act any different than before?"

Sebastian took on a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…you don't act like you're in love with me," Maylene said. "You don't…give me special attention…or smile at me in the hall…..or even come and visit me more often." Maylene knew it sounded selfish, but she had to say it. "It's just that…..it feels like nothing had changed."

"Maylene…." Sebastian didn't speak for a while, thinking, trying to keep to his plan. They sat in silence for a moment, still holding hands. Then Sebastian, his mind set, closed his eyes and hung his head. He squeezed Maylene's hand before starting.

"I apologize." Maylene looked up, surprised, but did not speak. Sebastian went on. "I…I'm just not used to this yet."

Maylene's surprise faded and was replaced by understanding. "Oh. Well, I guess this would be strange to you." Maylene managed a slight smile, but her chest suffocated with despair. "Not that long ago, I was a maid who got scorned by you a lot, and you were usually too busy to notice me. I guess that you didn't really care, back then…"

Sebastian kept his head down and mumbled, "Erm, yeah…that too, sure."

Although Maylene's feelings of despair still consumed her, she had noticed the strangeness of Sebastian's reply. She couldn't see his face but now his other hand was gripping the sheets. Concerned, Maylene temporarily forgot her despair.

"Sebastian? What is it?" Maylene asked.

Sebastian hesitated, uncertain if he should tell her or not. However, Maylene was growing more and more worried. Also, if he were to simply not answer, who knew how much more insecure she would become?

So, with no other options, Sebastian answered her truthfully. "It's that…..truthfully….I have never had a girlfriend before."

Maylene did not react at first, having been surprised so much thus far. Slowly, though, the weight of despair left and was replaced by…something.

"Eh?" There was not much else to say. "Eh?"

Sebastian continued. "Since I have never had a girlfriend before…..I'm not entirely sure of what I'm supposed to be doing right now." Sebastian looked at Maylene with a nervous expression. "If I'm not what you thought I would be –"

Sebastian was cut off as Maylene pressed her lips to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Her eyes were closed and her glasses were resting on the top of her head.

_So much for being "vulnerable"_, Sebastian thought, closing his eyes and relaxing.

They kissed each other gently for a while, then Maylene let go and they broke apart. Maylene genuinely smiled at him, her kind beloved one. She sighed, leaning into him. They held hands again, letting the peacefulness fall over them.

"Sebastian," Maylene said, "you will always be perfect to me."

The two sat there after that, simply talking. They spoke of what Maylene had read, the stories of princes coming to a damsel's rescue. Maylene felt like those girls, being next to her one and only prince, holding his hand.

"By the way," she said, "why were you coming over here earlier?"

Sebastian's mood seemed to drop at the very words. "Oh, that. If you must know, I was loosing my temper with the other two."

"You mean Agni and Prince Soma?"

"Yes," Sebastian said, putting his hand on his temple. "They have been badgering me constantly since yesterday, not counting the hours they sleep. I was coming here to calm down before I was overly tempted to strangle one of them."

Maylene, being sympathetic –

"We are _not_ annoying!"

"Be quiet, my prince!"

Sebastian twitched. He suddenly stood, confusing Maylene, and went straight to the door. He quickly slammed it open, scaring the other two outside the door.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Sebastian growled.

Prince Soma tried to defend himself. "We just wanted to see if you were doing okay! And we told you that you needed to show your love! That proves that we were right! Ha!" Soma finished with a triumphant 'I-told-you-so' look.

Sebastian stared at the prince, livid. Then he gave an even scarier dark smile and said, "So, how is dinner getting along?"

Both Prince Soma and Agni gasped and ran to the kitchen yelling, "_Save the curry!_" and "_Yes, my prince!_" respectively.

Sebastian sighed, watching them scramble around the corner. _Humans…really_, he thought.

"Sebastian?" Turning his head, Sebastian saw Maylene come up and touch his arm. "Is everything alright?"

Thinking it over a minute, Sebastian replied, "Everything is as it should be."

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**Okay, I know there's a lot of sighing in this chapter, but Sebastian either sighs or starts killing people. We can't have him killing people yet.**

**I tried to put some foreshadowing in this chapter, just to let you know. For those of you who didn't catch it, you can go back and look through this chapter again.**


	7. Relationship part 1

At the shinigami headquarters in Heaven, the Undertaker walked down the halls, searching for a certain person's office. He walked quickly and with purpose, not prancing about the halls and peeking around every other corner per usual. The Undertaker was walking, preoccupied, and as he now could see…..lost.

He actually didn't know where the person he was looking for was, and to be more specific, not entirely sure _who_ he was either. He had just figured that their door would say something like "Head Boss" or whatever big title they gave to that person nowadays.

He was now somewhere around the field operative's division. Being field workers, however, most of them were, well, in the field. If there were only a map…

"Undertaker!" Said person managed to turn about halfway around before he was tackled by a squealing Grell. "Why didn't you tell me that you were going to visit! I would have been here to welcome you!"

The Undertaker didn't have the breath to answer, as it was being squeezed out of him. Grell didn't notice, but kept on squealing and asking him unimportant questions that he couldn't answer. Grell was still talking about what kinds of tea he liked when he was suddenly pinned to the wall by William's death scythe.

"Grell, it is especially for this kind of thing that I was forced to take the office closest to your division. Just because you got your death scythe back does not mean your crimes were entirely forgiven. Please at least try to show the guest some manners." William looked at the Undertaker, looking for any damage done by the psychotic red head. When observations signaled none, William looked back to Grell and said, "You're lucky that you didn't do any damage. Now apologize."

Grell squealed out, "IIIII'MMMMMM SSOOOOORRRRRRYYYYYYY!"

William gave Grell one more cross look before retracting his scythe. Grell fell to the ground and stayed there, curled into a ball of sadness and fear, mostly fear. William had ignored Grell once more and was giving his attention to the Undertaker.

"I apologize for him as well. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the Undertaker said. "but could you please give me some directions?"

"Of course," William said. "Where do you need to go?"

"I need to get to the head," the Undertaker said.

Grell looked up. "The bathrooms are just down the hall~" he said.

"Eh…no, Grell. I need to see the head boss, or whatever he's called now," the Undertaker said, bringing the letter out from his sleeve. "I need to give this to him."

William raised his eyebrow questioningly. "Why didn't you just send it through the mail? It would have gotten to him soon enough."

"Ah, well," the Undertaker said, "this needs to be given to him personally and _very _soon."

Grell suddenly lit up. "Ooh, I know!" he shouted, springing up. "I could take him! I've been there lots of times!"

"Yes," said William, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You have." Letting his frustration diffuse, William went on. "Alright, you can escort him to the boss's office. Just don't –"

"Yaaaay!" Grell clung to the Undertaker. "Come on, let's go! I happen to know all the ways that you can get there…"

Soon Grell was rambling endlessly on, and William could do nothing about it. Sighing, he turned to walk back to his office and complete the paperwork he had piled on his desk. Reaching the door, William wondered what the famous shinigami would need from the boss, but he dismissed the thought. Whatever it was, it probably was nothing to be concerned about.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian sat on a chair in the library, reading _The Pit and the Pendulum_. Ah, the Spanish Inquisition. Truly a marvelous step forward for chaos and demon-kind. Sebastian smirked as he recalled his own role in it. He usually stayed around England, but the amount of death in Spain had been too big to ignore. Those had been good times…

Putting down the book, Sebastian sighed and shook himself from his memories. He needed to restrain himself for now. Focus was key to his plan. He couldn't read when –

Sebastian's thoughts were interrupted as the doorbell rang. Curious, Sebastian got up and walked to the door.

_Now who could it be?_ he wondered as the person outside started knocking. Sebastian reached the door and opened it.

"Hello?" Sebastian asked, peering around the door. "Who is –"

"Sebastian!" No sooner had his name been said than Sebastian found himself being plowed into by a familiar shade of pink. "Sebastian!" the flurry of pink said. "I can't believe…you're...you're…"

Sebastian looked down at the pink person. "Miss Elizabeth?" he asked, holding the doorframe so that he didn't fall. "What are you doing here?"

Lizzy looked up at him with teary eyes, then burst into tears. "Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

Just outside, on the street, was someone else watching their luggage being unloaded. At Elizabeth's crying, they turned around and started running up the steps.

"Elizabeth!" The Marquess Midford ran up the steps, leaving Paula to handle the bags. "What is –"

Ciel's Aunt Francis paused on seeing Sebastian. A look of surprise quickly shifted into a relieved smile. She let Elizabeth hang on to the familiar butler, turning back to help Paula with the luggage again.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth continued to sob endlessly. "I – I can't believe it…."

"Please try to calm down, Miss Elizabeth." Sebastian kneeled down so that his eyes were at her head level. "If you could try to stop crying…."

After a minute and a half's comforting, Elizabeth sniffed, having mostly regained her composure. "S-Sebastian, I'm sorry….It's just that I haven't seen you at all. You and Ciel were gone, and there was that huge fire, and – and –"

"Quite right, Elizabeth." Sebastian looked up to see Marquess Midford come up the steps, carrying two bags of luggage, while Paula huffed and puffed behind her. "You, butler! Why didn't you or Ciel send a message about you returning? You should have known better than to –…" Francis Midford stopped upon noticing Sebastian flinch. Something must have been wrong, or else Ciel's perfect butler wouldn't have been anything but courteous.

"Ah, but no matter," Marquess Midford said, switching the topic. "Since we're here, we should all go inside and have a cup of tea, don't you think?"

"Of course." Sebastian stood up and opened the door wide for the new guests. "I assume you all know your way to the parlor?"

Marquess Midford raised her eyebrow questioningly. Something was definitely wrong if Sebastian was not going to lead them to the parlor himself. "Yes," she answered, "we know our way there."

"Then if you will please go there yourselves, I shall make some tea for everyone. Would Darjeeling be alright for everyone?" Sebastian kept a professional air, but didn't even try to smile. There was nothing to smile about. He would have to be the bearer of bad news once more, which would have been bad enough if he hadn't been telling Ciel's fiancée. The emotional Elizabeth was not going to be peaceful about this.

Elizabeth held the door open for her mother and Paula and then followed them inside. Confused, she sat down on a couch and waited. She thought that she should be happy that Sebastian was there. True, her heart felt better, but the heaviness wouldn't leave it alone. Elizabeth's heart had been through so much pain, being weighted with sadness and that dreadful heaviness in the time that she had waited for Ciel's reappearance, that she had thought that nothing could ever parallel it. However, she had proven herself wrong. If anything, her heart had tightened even more, as if it knew something that she did not. Unaware that this was her woman's intuition at work, she sat there, clutching her chest, hoping that Ciel would come soon.

Sitting near to Elizabeth at Sebastian's insistence, Paula looked at the young lady with concern. Paula only wanted to help her, but looking at Elizabeth clutching her chest, she didn't know what to say. So she sat there, uneasily watching over her young mistress.

Meanwhile, in the same room, Francis Midford wondered about Sebastian's strange behavior. So far, Sebastian had not acted like himself. Not only had he disregarded much of his politeness as a butler, but he didn't even seem to be trying to be a butler anymore. What could have –…

No, Francis thought, shaking the thought from her mind. She didn't know what had happened yet. It would be best to just wait for Sebastian to come back.

By now Sebastian was standing in the kitchen , waiting for the tea to warm up. The demon thought of how to break the awful news to the Midfords. Many plans went through his mind, received his criticism, and were tossed away. By the time the tea was ready, Sebastian had decided on a plan. Taking the pot off the burner, Sebastian went over the details once more, and then rolled the tea cart to the parlor. There was going to be some smooth talking, some acting, and quite a lot of Elizabeth's wails, but he thought he should be able to get through it all right.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Maylene was woken up by the loudest wailing she had ever heard. She scrambled up, got caught up in the blankets, and found herself falling onto the floor.

Maylene sat up, rubbing her head. She had been taking a nap, since there were no house duties to be done. Blinking, she cleared her foggy vision and looked for her glasses. Putting them on, she listened again to the constant wailing downstairs. It was probably her imagination, but it sounded very familiar…..

" !" the wailing voice screeched. "WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! WHY CIEL? WHHHHYYYYYYY?"

Suddenly Maylene placed a name to the wailing voice. "Miss Elizabeth!" Maylene gasped. She quickly straightened out her dress and ran down the stairs, following the voice to the parlor.

Going into the noisy room, Maylene saw Elizabeth crying into Paula's shoulder. Her mother was crying too, only she was silent and only held on to her skirt. Sebastian was there too, his head down, avoiding looking at anyone.

"What is going on in here?" Maylene asked. No one answered. Confused and dreading the worst, Maylene went over to Elizabeth and Paula. "Miss Elizabeth, are you alright?"

Elizabeth looked up with teary eyes at the new person in the room, her face not recognizable at first. Elizabeth wiped her eyes and looked again, seeing Maylene. "Maylene….Maylene…!"

Elizabeth detached herself from Paula and grabbed Maylene's dress. "Maylene, you have to come to our mansion! You – you have to…! B-because Ciel's not – not –! !"

Maylene hesitated, then put a comforting arm around Elizabeth. She simply stood there a while, waiting for the young miss to calm down.

**~X~~~0~~~X~ **

**First of all, let me say thank you to everyone that still believed that I would update this story! I LOVE YOU ALL~!**

**While I was working on this, that strange conundrum kept happening. It's those cursed times when you can't think of anything when you have free time, but when you DO get some inspiration, you're suddenly busy or too tired to do anything (say, when it's midnight...curses!).**

**In any case, I have to make this "Part 1" because it got to be too long to put into one chapter. Please keep believing in me! I really need the good juju vibes~**


	8. Relationship part 2

In the corridors of Shinigami Headquarters, the Undertaker was waiting while Grell peered around the corner. Earlier, a group of new recruits had recognized the Undertaker as the inexplicably awesome shinigami he was and swarmed, trampling Grell underfoot and delaying them both for half an hour. Now, instead of gaily pointing our every single detail of the building and chattering almost endlessly, Grell was remarkably silent and determined to get the Undertaker to the boss's office undetected.

Rubbing his sore cheek, Grell double-checked the hallway for rookies. The last thing he needed today was another stampede over his face. Didn't they know it was rude to hurt a lady's face?

"The coast is clear," Grell whispered, and he and the Undertaker went out into the hall.

"It should be around here somewhere…" Grell murmured under his breath as he led the Undertaker down the hall. They were in the official's branch, where all of the strongest and elder shinigami were. All of the important decisions were made here. The Undertaker would have had a room here, but…

_As stuffy and formal as ever_, the Undertaker thought as he passed the silver-nameplated doors and the bronze plaques next to them, boasting the position belonging to that office. He and Grell were now passing the door of the "Head of the Weapons Division", some man with an unpronounceable name, and were coming closer to the end of the hall.

"We're~ he~re~!" Grell sang as they approached the huge double doors. On the side of the doors was a gold plaque (instead of a bronze one) that read "Head of All Divisions". There was no silver nameplate on these doors, but there were intricate and ornate designs carved into them that seemed to shift as you looked at them.

"So what did you want to come there for?" Grell asked. No one he knew came to the boss unless they were in trouble. He could still remember his scorning for the Jack the Ripper incident. There had been no mercy, even though he had been in a body cast.

"Oh…just giving this to the boss," the Undertaker said, pulling out the letter from his sleeve. "You may go now, Grell."

"Oka~y!" Grell turned and started skipping back to his division.

On the way back, Grell thought about the Undertaker. His hair was its usual style and he was as attractive as ever, but he had seemed a bit….different. He hadn't been as fun, for sure. Geez, for a guy who took jokes as payment, he sure was acting strange.

Grell thought about what exactly was different about the Undertaker. For one, his smile had been…off. He wasn't sure how to describe it, really. And he had been a bit formal today, acting like – Grell shuddered – like one of his superiors.

Well, whatever was wrong with the Undertaker, Grell was determined to do away with it. _Nothing will keep such a fun hottie feeling down! After all, it can't be _that _important._

Thinking this, Grell went back to his work…..sort of.

Meanwhile, the Undertaker paused a while outside the door. Should he really give the note to the boss? It could be a fake, and was more than likely delivered from a demon…

_But demons never lie_, he thought. _And the message is very clear and straightforward… _

Knowing exactly what kind of commotion the letter would cause, the Undertaker opened the door and stepped inside.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Back in Great Britain, Maylene stood at the kitchen sink, washing dishes. So far, every single plate had made it safely to the drying rack without one scratch. It was amazing, really, if you thought about how clumsy she usually was.

Maylene sighed, putting another scratch-free plate in the drying rack. She couldn't say no to Miss Elizabeth, who would be in mourning over her lost fiancée. But to leave the townhouse with Prince Soma and Agni and Sebastian…

She couldn't leave Sebastian, not when they were finally together after so long. Maylene thought to when she had first actually seen Sebastian. Sadly, it hadn't been when they first had met.

Maylene had just finished putting on her new maid's outfit for the first time ever. Wearing a dress had been a huge change of pace for her. She had been admiring her glasses then. For once in her life, she could see her reflection in the mirror in front of her. So many new things had been possible that hadn't been before, and she wouldn't have to kill every day for them, either.

There had been a knock at the door. "Pardon me, but are you finished changing?" Back then Sebastian had only been a blur and a voice, and she hadn't actually seen his face yet.

"Yes", she had said, "I'm done! I'm coming out," she had added as she had opened the door – and walked straight into Sebastian.

"Oof! I'm so sorry –" Maylene had frozen on seeing his face. He was still the most handsome man she knew, but she had never laid eyes on him before. She had stared at his face, his amber eyes, his flowing black hair, his moving lips…

"Maylene!" She had jumped at the strictness of his voice.

"I-I'm sorry!" she had said. Flustered and unsure of what to do, Maylene had been almost completely frozen. However, she had thankfully still been able to speak. "I just – this is the first time I've seen someone so close and – um…"

Sebastian's strict glare had softened, and had his voice. He had sighed and said, "It is alright. I do not mind you staring at everything, but would you _please_ listen to what I am saying?"

"Of course!" Maylene had said.

Sebastian had cleared his throat. "Ahem. As I was saying, my name is Sebastian Michaelis. I am the head butler in this manor, and I will be teaching you all you need to know here. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Michaelis."

"Just 'Sebastian' will do."

"Yes, Mister…Sebastian." After that, he had shown her around the manor and introduced her to her new master, a young noble who had only just turned twelve. Her heart had skipped a beat when he had said they were the only staff there, and she had been somewhat disappointed to hear that they were planning to hire others later. It had been love at first sight, and one of the best days of her life.

Maylene sighed again. Lost in thought, she worried over the choice she was to make. She passed some time like this when suddenly a familiar hand tapped her shoulder.

"Maylene?" Said person jumped, nearly breaking the plate she held. Turning around, she saw Sebastian behind her, giving her a curious look.

"Sebastian?" Maylene put down her plate so that she wouldn't break her new record of perfectly washing plates. "What is it?" she asked, turning around to see him.

"I am just…wondering if you are feeling well," he said, putting his hand on her forehead. "You aren't sick, are you?"

Maylene couldn't help it. She blushed, her face turning a deep red color all the way up to her ears.

His hand still on her forehead, Sebastian said, "Maylene, your head feels warm….do you have a fever?"

Oh, how Maylene would have loved to have had a fever in that moment. She could just imagine it now. Sebastian, worried after her health, would carry her like a princess. He would take her up the stairs to her room and lay her on the bed, where he would take care of her every need…..

"_Oh, my precious Maylene," said Dream Sebastian, "what could I do for you, my one and only love?"_

"_Oh, Sebastian," said Maylene, "I only need for you to declare your love for me!"_

"_I shall, I shall!" Dream Sebastian vehemently exclaimed. "Maylene, I love you more than anything in this world! My love for shines more brightly than the stars, burns with more passion than the sun, and only grows more with every passing day! You are the rose that blossoms in my heart, the light that shines in my soul, the reason of my existence! You are the jewel that shines so brightly in my life! Take my hand, and we shall be together forever, united under God's watchful eyes! Marry me, my darling Maylene, and let us be lovers for the rest of our lives!"_

"_Yes, Sebastian!" Maylene lovingly said. "I love you as well! Let us be off and become husband and wife!" _

_The scenery changes, and Sebastian is waiting at the altar of a wedding chapel, wearing a dashing prince's outfit. Maylene walks elegantly forward in her beautiful white wedding gown, the most graceful woman in the world. In a complete and total state of bliss, Maylene took Sebastian's hand and climbed the steps up to the altar._

_Maylene looked behind her. In the guest seats there are her friends and family. There is the young master, Ciel, smiling at her happily. Next to him is Bard, giving her a thumbs up. Finny is next to him, his eyes teary but glowing with happiness. Miss Elizabeth is cuddling next to the young master. Marquess Midford is smiling, happy for her, on the other side of Miss Elizabeth._

_Maylene looks all around at the guests, happily seeing all of their faces. Scanning the faces, she suddenly sees a different one, near the back row, that looks strangely familiar. She looks at her dress, at her hair, then tries to see her face…_

Maylene sat straight up, panting and gasping for air. She clenched the sheets in her hands, trying to remember where she was. Looking around, she could see she was in her room, but she couldn't remember coming here. The last thing she remembered was talking to Sebastian in the kitchen….

"Maylene?" The familiar voice came from a chair to her left. "Are you alright?"

Sebastian was slouched in a chair, looking at Maylene with a concerned face. Maylene tried to recall what had happened. She had been talking with Sebastian, he had touched her forehead, and then….

_Oh_, she thought, suddenly remembering.

"Yes," she said to Sebastian, "I'm alright, just a little….light-headed, is all."

"I would be surprised if you weren't. That was a really severe nosebleed you had back there." Maylene blushed at this but remained silent. "Maylene, are you sure you are alright? You were not thinking anything, say –"

"No!" Maylene jumped. "I wasn't thinking anything like that–!"

Sebastian raised his eyebrow. "I was going to say 'overly exciting'," he said. "Just what were you thinking?"

Maylene fell silent and pulled the sheets over her head. Underneath the sheets, Maylene blushed yet again and inwardly tried not to panic.

Sebastian stared at the lump under the sheets, piecing things together in his mind. He sighed to himself, pitying the human heart. Its weaknesses were all too obvious, craving endless love and affection, deluding itself so that there was no longer any rational thought, only a strong conviction.

However, it was this weakness and conviction that his plan relied upon. There came a quick smirk to his lips as he thought of it, and then it was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Maylene," Sebastian said, the usual look of concern back on this face. He reached out and touched her shoulder, still hidden by the sheets. "What is the matter?"

Maylene hesitated under the covers before saying, "It's nothing for you to worry about, really…"

"If it is enough to worry you, then it is enough to worry me. Please tell me what is wrong, Maylene." As Sebastian said this, he wondered if the first thing he had said was strictly true. Maylene tended to worry about a lot of unnecessary things.

Maylene peeked at Sebastian from under the sheet. This was actually more difficult than it sounded, considering that she was wearing her thick glasses. She seemed to deliberate something, then slowly sat up and put down the sheets.

"I –…." Maylene hesitated, unsure of herself for a moment. But if there was anyone she could talk to about this, it was Sebastian.

Maylene took a deep breath and continued. "I'm worried about Elizabeth's offer. I…I cannot turn her down, but I cannot leave here, either…"

Sebastian raised his eyebrow for the second time. "Why not?"

"W-what?" Maylene asked, startled.

"Why can you not leave?" Sebastian clarified. "The Midford Marquisate is a splendid manor and Prince Soma and Agni can take care of themselves."

Maylene gaped at him as if he had suddenly grown an extra head. Was it possible that _he_ – the perfect, pristine Phantomhive butler who was unfailing and ever-resourceful – had _no_ clue as to her dilemma? Maylene was dumbstruck. After a moment, during which Sebastian had wondered why she was looking at him so strangely, Maylene regained enough of her sense to speak.

"I can't leave because of you!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "If I leave, I won't be able to see you again? You'll be here, and I'll be miles away, somewhere where you won't be able to visit me! It's a _Marquisate_, Sebastian. A _Marquisate!_ They won't let you in, no matter what I say! I…I don't want to be apart from you again!"

At the end of this, Maylene started to cry, feeling like she could never be with the one she loved, even though he was right next to her, even though he had accepted her love. She sobbed, clutching the sheets and curling up into a ball.

Sebastian blinked in surprise. _Are all humans like this?_ he wondered. He had assumed her intelligence would –

_No_, he thought, _that is expecting too much from her, isn't it._

Sebastian sighed. He firmly gripped both of Maylene's arms and pulled her towards him so that she faced him, so to speak.

"Maylene," he said, "you are worrying too much about this."

"B-but –" Maylene stammered. She was silenced as Sebastian wiped a tear off of her cheek.

"Maylene, just listen to me for a moment," Sebastian said. He paused long enough to know she would remain silent, then continued. "This isn't as terrible as you think it is. There is a very simple solution to this. Just ask if I can go as well."

An amused smirk came to his face as Maylene stared at him, dumbstruck once again. There seemed to be a repeating pattern here. Or was Maylene just predictable?

"You're not the only one out of work here, Maylene," Sebastian said. "I don't think Miss Elizabeth will refuse."

"So….you would come with me?" Maylene asked.

"Yes," Sebastian replied. "I would."

Maylene stared at him wordlessly for about four seconds before attaching herself to him in a hug. Her head came to rest against Sebastian's chest and her arms were wrapped around his lower back.

"Sebastian! I….I'm so happy…!" Maylene squeezed Sebastian against her, glad that he was here, that she wouldn't have to leave him.

Sebastian froze, unused to accepting other's love. His hand slowly rose and patted her head. It remained there, gently reassuring Maylene that Sebastian was indeed there. It caressed her head, silencing her doubts, pulling her deeper into "Sebastian's" demonic clutches.

_Yes_, the demon "Sebastian" thought, letting Maylene snuggle deeper into his warmth. _Maylene will finally be useful._

_A truly ideal virgin sacrifice._

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**Muahahahaha! You didn't think I was going to be nice forever, did you? =D**

**Yes, this is where the tragedy begins. Now is when your heart will start dropping into a black abyss... Pick one, it's your choice. There's a lot of different kinds to choose from. More than you would think, considering they're black abysses.**

**Please review!**


	9. Relationship part 3

There was chaos at Shinigami Headquarters.

Alarms, similar to what would be known as air raid sirens, blared their almost unbearable noise across the halls and throughout the buildings. Shinigami ran through the corridors, towards the doors, outside of which they would be free to teleport to the human world. Most of Shinigami Headquarters was abandoned, except for the few new recruits left there to act as security guards.

In the corridors of the official's branch, those same deafening alarms gave warning to an empty hallway. At the end of the hall, the ornate doors of the boss's office hung slightly ajar on their hinges. Inside the office, the room looked how it usually did – neat, clean, and organized.

Except for one thing.

A letter lay on the desk, thrown on top of the envelope next to a bleeding bottle of ink. It was the letter delivered by the Undertaker. The letter, written by the demon "Sebastian", given to the shinigami known as the Undertaker by the imp Haitius, which read:

_To Shinigami Headquarters,_

_ Be warned that Lucifer, King of the Underworld, is coming soon. He will appear on the Demon's Isle, where no life remains. Make haste, and remember – let no one on the island before his arrival._

_ From, _

The ink crawled across the desk and slowly made its way to the letter. The blue ink turned black on the paper. Slowly, it was absorbed into the paper, spreading in an unnatural manner, until a familiar symbol was formed under the last word of the letter.

"Sebastian's" pentagram.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Back at the Phantomhive townhouse, subdued chattering took place in the parlor. Prince Soma and Agni tried to keep the conversation on lighter topics to prevent Elizabeth from reminiscing. Some hours had passed since the Midfords' arrival. Now the sun was setting, and Elizabeth had come to terms with her fiancée's death.

Francis watched as Agni performed some sort of Indian dance with Elizabeth. Her daughter wasn't crying much anymore, thankfully. Francis watched for a while as Elizabeth jerkily tried to mimic Agni, looking as clumsy as when she was a toddler trying to walk. Francis smiled fondly at those memories, proud to see her grown-up little girl taking the misfortune so well.

However, on the other hand…. Francis looked through the parlor windows at the sunset. The deep red sun rested on top of London's ashen buildings, reminding its citizens of the recent fire. The London Fire, as it was now called, hadn't reached the Midford Marquessate. It wasn't until the next morning, when Elizabeth had planned to go shopping in town, that they had discovered the wreckage. They had gone to Ciel's mansion after that to check on him, but…..

Francis could still clearly remember the charred remains of the once beautiful mansion. The images of the blackened columns were still fresh in her mind…..or were they memories? She couldn't differentiate the pictures in her head anymore. Was it her who ran towards the ashes first, or Elizabeth? Was Paula there with them the first or the second time, or possibly both?

_To think that I would have to witness such a thing twice…_ Francis closed her eyes, trying to sort out the images in her head.

She recalled a vague hope that Ciel was still alive, though the mansion was leading them to believe otherwise. Ciel had been on vacation in France, and perhaps hadn't gotten back yet. As for the vanished servants, they must have been somewhere else, right?

Thinking along these lines, Francis, Elizabeth, and… was there someone else there? Ah, Francis remembered, Paula had gone with them. She had been the one to remember that Ciel had gone to France.

In any case, they had all gone to Ciel's townhouse in hopes of someone being there. They had gone up to the door and knocked. It had felt like an hour had gone by for every second that had passed, until finally the door was opened by Maylene.

To see her then had been shocking. Maylene's skin had still been ash-colored, with pale tear-streaks going down her face. Her dress had been black from being covered in soot, and her hair had been half-falling-out of her maid's cap.

_At least I can remember these images clearly_, Francis thought. She could remember asking Maylene if she was alright.

Dazed, Maylene had answered, "I…I'm alright."

"Then what is the matter?" Francis had asked. "If you are worried about the house, it can always be repaired…" She had let her sentence trail off as she had seen Maylene shake her head.

"It…it's…they're gone. Bard…and Finny are….." Then Maylene had broken down into sobs, forgetting her station and falling into Francis's shoulder for comfort.

_The other servants…?_ Francis had wondered, remembering the faces of the other two new servants that Sebastian had taken on recently. It had been a shame that they hadn't survived the fire, but that hadn't been her main concern at the moment.

"Hush, hush," Francis had soothingly whispered to the distressed maid. "There there, Maylene." As Maylene's sobs gradually softened, Francis continued to coo soothing words into her ear, motioning for Paula to take care of Elizabeth.

After Francis had seen Paula take Elizabeth away to another room, she had gently pushed Maylene away. "Now please listen, Maylene. I need you to be strong for a moment and tell me where my nephew Ciel is. We need to find him so that my daughter doesn't needlessly over him." _And so that I won't worry, either_, Francis had thought.

"Th-the young…master…." Maylene had started, trying to remember through her painful thoughts. "I…I last saw the young master…during the fire…"

"During the fire…?" Francis had repeated, a familiar feeling of dread building inside of her.

"Yes…he told us –" Maylene had stopped, numbly going through her memories. "He talked to us, and then…he left for somewhere. I haven't…seen him since…" Maylene had looked up at her, panic suddenly in her eyes. "Y-you don't think he's –!"

Francis had exhaled a relieved sigh, then said, "I don't think we should worry too much about that boy. He has come back once before. Besides, he now has that butler of his to take care of him."

Then Maylene had frozen, her panicked eyes widening, still looking at Francis. "I…I never…saw him…"

"Pardon?" Francis had asked, confused.

"I never…saw Sebastian with him…" Maylene had whispered. "I never…saw Sebastian at all….."

Francis hadn't known why Maylene had become so scared so suddenly. She still couldn't understand what that look had been. But she had known what she had been scared of, and it had made Francis's heart drop.

Francis had hesitated before saying, "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll come back alright. Now then, let us go sit down somewhere." Francis had then led the poor maid to the same room where Paula and Elizabeth had gone to just a few minutes ago.

Now what she knew that Ciel was dead, Francis was determined to bring Maylene to her manor. She wasn't simply going to leave her here to suffer with the memories of her dead master. Speaking of the girl….

"Pardon me, Prince Soma," Francis said, turning to the laughing Indian next to her. "Could you tell me where Maylene is? I need to speak with her."

"Ah…well, about that…" Prince Soma found himself suddenly nervous to answer. Sebastian had taken Maylene up to her room and had specifically told him and Agni not to bother them.

Francis smirked and said, "I can understand if you don't want me to see her. Do not worry, though. I simply wish to hear her answer. Besides, enough time has passed already, don't you think?" Francis finished, gesturing towards the sunset.

"Eh, well…th-that's not exactly the reason…" Prince Soma nervously stammered. Images of Sebastian's wrath went through Soma's mind, reminding him of what may happen if he were to interrupt them.

"So…what _is_ the reason, then?" Francis asked, confused. Though she had just met the two Indians living in her nephew's townhouse only recently, she could already tell that Prince Soma was usually carefree. In any case, it was strange that he would start acting nervous so suddenly. After all, she had only asked to see Maylene.

Prince Soma hesitated for a moment, deliberating his choices. He couldn't just tell Madam Midford…could he? _No, I cannot_, he thought, _but I think I know a way to…_

"Agni!" Prince Soma called out, interrupting the dance lesson on the other side of the room. "Could you come over here for a moment?"

"Of course, my prince!" Agni replied. He quickly asked Elizabeth to go to Paula for a moment, then went to his prince's side, which by then was not near Francis.

"Agni, we have a problem," Prince Soma whispered. "Madam Midford wants to see Maylene."

"So what is the matter, my prince?" Agni asked.

"Sebastian still hasn't come back down yet…" Tension was obvious on the prince's face as he said this.

"My prince," Agni replied, "Maylene was unconscious. Sebastian was worried for her health, and is simply looking after her until she wakes up."

Prince Soma became increasingly uncomfortable with his own thoughts. He couldn't tell Agni that Sebastian had become his worst fear. It would make him seem weak and stupid. But on the other hand, he didn't want to risk angering Sebastian…

An idea suddenly occurred to him. "Well then, why don't we bring Madam Midford to Maylene's room?"

"Excuse me, my prince?" Agni asked.

"Well," Prince Soma said, "there is nothing wrong with it, is there?"

Alarmed yet still confused, Agni quickly replied, "Of course not, my prince! But I would still wish to know why –"

"Well, let us not hesitate any further!" Prince Soma exclaimed, cutting off Agni's queries. The impromptu meeting thus terminated, Prince Soma, followed by a clueless Agni, went back to where Francis was still waiting.

"Madam Midford," Prince Soma said, "would you please follow us?"

Confused, Francis asked, "What does this have to do with Maylene's answer?"

"If you would not mind, I think it would be best to just follow my prince to get your answer, madam," said Agni, disguising his confusion as best as he could for his prince's sake.

"Well, it is alright, I suppose," Francis said.

"Then please follow us, madam!" Agni exclaimed, going after his prince who was already halfway to the door.

After a few minutes, during which Francis and Agni chased after Prince Soma through the halls, the trio arrived at the end of the hallway where Maylene's room was. Prince Soma, as excited and nervous as he was, whispered rather quickly to the Marchioness Midford.

"Now, Madam Midford, Maylene's room is the second one on the left – no, right – which one is it, Agni?"

"It is the second one on the left, my prince," Agni whispered.

"Right! The second door on the left! So to find your answer, madam, you'll just go over there, outside the door – quietly, though, you need to be quiet – and just peek through the door and listen to Maylene."

Agni looked at his prince worriedly. "My prince…?" Agni asked, letting the question trail off, as he didn't know what to ask first, or if he should ask at all.

"But Prince Soma," Francis started, "wouldn't that be –"

"Shush! Please be silent, madam!" Prince Soma hissed. "Sebastian hates it when people know about them."

"Sebastian? What does Sebastian have to do with –"

"Please be silent, madam, of you might not get another chance like this again! Now, go on!" Prince Soma said, pushing Francis into the hall. "And remember to be quiet!"

Francis stared back open-mouthed as Prince Soma waved at her to go ahead and hid behind the corner. Very few times in her life had she had to bear with being pushed around, and that is exactly what was happening. She saw Agni next to his prince, alternating between looking worriedly at his prince and glancing apologetically at her.

After a while, Francis merely sighed. _If this truly gives me an answer_, she thought, _I shall be grateful, in the end._

Turning her attention to the hallway, Francis took a step forward –

_Ka-tak._

Francis froze and looked down. Thinking of her high-heel shoes, she silently crouched down on the floor. She then removed her shoes and stood up, holding her shoes in her hand. Now standing two inches shorter than before, Francis crept down the hall to the second door on the left. She stopped outside and went down on one knee, placing her shoes carefully on the back of her skirts. Seeing that the door was slightly ajar, she leaned forward and put her ear to the small crack in the doorway.

"Why not?" she heard. It was Sebastian. So he was the one taking care of Maylene.

"W-what?" That was Maylene. She sounded confused.

"Why can you not leave?" Sebastian elaborated. _Yes!_ Francis thought. _I couldn't have come at a better time. This is the very thing I wish to know as well._

After a silence, she heard Maylene shouting, "I can't leave because of you! If I leave, I won't be able to see you again! You'll be here, and I'll be miles away, somewhere where you won't be able to visit me! It's a _Marquessate_, Sebastian. A _Marquessate!_ They won't let you in, no matter what I say! I…I don't want to be apart from you again!"

Francis's eyes widened as the sound of Maylene crying drifted through the crack in the doorway. The girl was in love with Sebastian? It explained why she hadn't given an answer yet, though Francis would never understand how Maylene could fall in love with someone with such a lecherous face and overly-long bangs.

"Maylene," she heard Sebastian say, "you are worrying too much about this."

"B-but –" Maylene stammered.

"Maylene, just listen to me for a moment." After a pause, he continued on. "This isn't as terrible as you think it is. There is a very simple solution to this. Just ask if I can come as well."

_Eh?_ Francis thought, trying to interpret what she just heard. _Does that mean he…?_

"So…" she heard Maylene venture, "you would come with me?"

"Yes, I would," Sebastian replied.

There was a long silence, before Maylene shouted happily, "Sebastian! I….I'm so happy…!"

Outside the door, Francis allowed herself a little smile. _It would seem that there was nothing to worry about_, she thought. _Those two may very well become husband and wife someday._

Just as Francis had her shoes in hand and was about to go, she heard one last thing through the small crack in the doorway.

"Sebastian?"

"Yes, Maylene?"

"I love you, Sebastian."

"I know, Maylene. I know."

Smiling knowingly to herself, Francis silently padded down the hall to where Prince Soma and his servant were waiting.

"So?" Prince Soma asked while Francis went to put on her shoes. "Did you get your answer?"

"Yes," replied Francis, "I did. However," she added, seeing that the two Indians were beginning to celebrate, "I do not with to encourage such improper behavior any further. I would ask that refrain from spying on others or making others do so anymore."

"E-eh?" Prince Soma asked, confused. "But you just said –"

Francis turned her evil eye on the Indians. "Such antics should make you ashamed of yourselves!" she shouted. "Do you not have any pride as men! You shall do no such thing again! Is that clear?"

Prince Soma, hiding himself behind a shocked Agni, stammered in reply, "Y-y-yes, m-madam, o-of course."

"Hmph!" Marchioness Midford scoffed, turning around to walk back to the parlor. Acting like her usual puritanical self, Francis left with Prince Soma and Agni trailing behind her to wait for Maylene to give her her answer.

~X~~~0~~~X~

About one and a half hours after Francis had left, Maylene nervously walked down the halls to the den, where everyone had moved after dinner. Sebastian had been kind and hadn't forced her to answer Marchioness Midford, but instead had let her gather her nerve before confronting the Marchioness.

Coming to the den, Maylene stopped for a moment to review her strategy again. She was going to politely ask to talk to the Marchioness, then insist that Sebastian come with her. Otherwise, she would not go at all. She was going to have to go against a noblewoman, but then again, she used to assassinate nobles for a living…In any case, there would be no backing down. Having steeled herself, Maylene knocked on the door before entering the room.

"Pardon me, madam," she started, "but –" Maylene stopped in surprise as she saw that only Marchioness Midford was in the room, reading a book on one of the armchairs by the fireplace.

Francis looked up and saw Maylene standing in the doorway. "Ah, Maylene," she said. She closed her book and put it down. "What brings you here?" Francis asked, putting her hands in her lap.

"Oh! W-well…" Maylene stammered, trying to pull herself together. "May I ask where everyone else is?"

"If I recall correctly," Francis replied, "the two Indians went to perform their prayers, and Elizabeth went with Paula to get ready for bed."

"What about Sebastian?" Maylene asked without quite knowing why.

Francis restrained herself from saying anything about knowing of their relationship and instead said, "Sebastian excused himself to finish other chores."

"Oh," Maylene dumbly replied. It took her a moment to fully remember exactly why she was here before Maylene blurted out, "Marchioness, I am sorry, but I – I cannot go with you unless Sebastian comes too!"

"Pardon?" Francis inquired.

Maylene blushed at having blurted out her purpose for being there, but there was no going back now. "I-I…." Maylene started. "I don't want to be away from Sebastian again, not after that terrible fire. I mean, he's precious to m-me, and he's the only one who isn't...Ah!" Maylene exclaimed, realizing she was going off-topic. "A-also, Sebastian's out of work too, now, a-and he would b-be great…f-for other…jobs…" Maylene trailed off, blushing at her own words. This wasn't what she was supposed to say…

Francis smiled benignly at the love-struck maid. _So much for remaining silent_, she thought as she stood up and put her hand on Maylene's shoulder.

"Maylene…would you happen to be in love with that certain butler?" Francis asked with gentle, understanding eyes.

The Marchioness's understanding only served to make Maylene blush even more. "E-erm…well….." Maylene stammered, trying to get the words out. After a slight internal conflict, Maylene simply nodded. "Yes," she said. "I-..I-…I do."

Francis smiled kindly at Maylene and gripped her other shoulder with her spare hand. "I understand," she said. "Of course I'll hire Sebastian as well. I am not so cruel as to rip apart two lovers." At the word "lovers", Maylene's face turned slightly red again.

"R-really?" Maylene asked.

"Of course," Francis said. "Now then, would you also like to share the same days off as him?"

Maylene's face brightened and she lurched forward to embrace the Marchioness Midford in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much, madam! That would be perfect!"

Francis stood frozen at first, then said in a stern voice, "Maylene, if you are to become a maid at my manor, you need to learn your place and not act so familiarly with those above you!"

"Oh!" Maylene gasped, letting go of the Marchioness. "I-I am very sorry, madam! But…" Maylene went on, looking down, "I am very thankful that you would bother yourself enough to take us both in."

"Do not worry about it," Francis said. "Now that that is settled, we shall leave tomorrow after breakfast. Be sure to pack your things before then and to notify Sebastian of his new job. If you would not mind, I would ask that you only pack any personal possessions you have left, as you will be given new uniforms to wear. Is all of that understood?"

"Yes, Madam!" Maylene said, bowing slightly. "I shall get right to it!"

Francis watched as Maylene left the room. Looking at the closed door, she sighed and shook her head.

_It seems as though she will have to learn a lot to be a maid at my manor_, Francis thought. _She didn't even ask if I wanted anything before she left. Oh well_, she thought, going back to the armchair. _She'll simply have to learn._

With this thought, Francis sat down and picked up her novel once more, a warm feeling spreading inside her chest and a gentle smile on her face.

~X~~~0~~~X~

"Sebastian" lay on his bed for the night, staring at the ceiling. A couple of spare sets of clothes were packed in a small suitcase that had been set next to the door. As he had no personal items to speak of, there hadn't been much to pack.

Maylene had been excited to tell him that they were both going to work at the Midford Marquessate as of tomorrow. It would delay his plans somewhat, but as long as his father did not suddenly appear, it should still be successful.

Making Maylene a virgin sacrifice meant that the demon "Sebastian" would have to capture her in an ancient demon's trap in order to take her to Hell. "Sebastian's" father was old-fashioned, preferring to haunt someone rather than contract with them. With so much of the world becoming less accepting of human sacrifice, much less knowing how to perform one properly, a proper virgin sacrifice would at least lessen his father's anger. However, considering that he hadn't seen his father in a century or two, it would only spare him the worst of Hell's punishments.

_Well_, the demon thought, _even just _that_ will be well worth it._ _Now, how do I make Maylene a virgin sacrifice without her knowing?_

Contrary to popular belief, sacrifice was not entirely about death. Things like virgin sacrifices were more about sacrificing the woman's virginity and innocence rather than her life. The circumstances of the sacrifice and the feelings in the hearts of the humans involved is what would differentiate a demonic sacrifice from a newly wedded couple's wedding night. Simply put, "Sebastian" would have to capture Maylene with feelings of fear or hatred in her heart. Because sadness was a sign of repentance, sadness would not work.

Creating a demonic trap created by an ancient, nearly-forgotten civilization wasn't the problem, as he simply needed time to prepare it. Making Maylene fear him would be even easier. Getting everyone in the Midford Marquessate to believe that Sebastian hadn't done it while telling the truth – _that_ would be much more difficult.

He would have to cover it up somehow, but how does one deceive an entire manor and its occupants? Getting rid of them all would look entirely too suspicious, and if he and Maylene simply vanished, there would be a search which might uncover evidence of his trap. If only there was a way to –

"Sebastian" froze in mid-thought, an idea suddenly coming to him. An evil grin slowly came to the demon's face as he formulated the final plan in his mind.

_It has been done before_, he thought, _but it seems to have been very effective so far. _

The demon grinned at the ceiling. All that was left was to prepare the trap and execute the plan. Perhaps this would be some fun for him yet. And so "Sebastian" remained on his bed, waiting for the morning to come.

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**This update came a bit late, but there was a lot of editing to be done. Well, in any case, this chapter ended up being REALLY long. I was trying to get it all done before I went to camp.**

**I tried not to leave as much of a cliff hanger on this one, because I know how frustrating that can be. Also, because I won't be able to write for a while. But just wait for when the drama begins...mua ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! =D**


	10. Intermission

**This is a seperate story than the usual storyline. It is a light intermission, since I need to smooth out the plot for the later chapters. Enjoy this, since I might not be writing something like this again. If you review, please tell me if you think I should post this as a seperate story or not. **

**~Intermission~**

Everything was peaceful in Phantomhive manor. Well, as peaceful as it could get, considering the inept servants who worked there were currently not under the head butler's supervision. Sebastian had a day off today, and had not been seen since that morning.

Maylene, the only maid working at the manor, was carrying an armful of freshly laundered sheets to the young master Ciel's room. As a Phantomhive maid, she had to be able to provide fresh, clean sheets for her young master to sleep in. So she had been told by Sebastian any of the numerous times she has been lectured when she usually messed up the laundry.

Shifting her hold slightly, Maylene continued to walk carefully down the hall, making sure she didn't trip over anything. She was taking a shortcut through the servant's quarters, where she thought she was safe from any sudden floor hazards. After all, she had traveled down these corridors so often as a servant herself that she now knew practically every potential trip-up point to look out for. As long as her shoelaces didn't become untied, she should have been able to make it safely to the young master's room.

It was as she was nearing Sebastian's room then she heard it.

"Mreo~w."

Maylene stopped, listening for any more of the sound. After a while, when she didn't hear anything, Maylene shook her head to herself. Wondering what it could have been, she took a step forward –

"Mreo~~w."

Stopping once again, Maylene looked to see which direction the sound had come from. Her eyes rested in the direction of Sebastian's room, which she had just passed. After she had stood there for a few seconds, she heard a familiar voice chuckling to itself.

_Sebastian?_, the maid wondered. Of course, the usually hard-at-work butler was enjoying his day off. There was no reason to be suspicious, but….

Maylene put the sheets down on a small dressing table in the hall and went back to listen outside of Sebastian's door. Any reason for the love of her life to be laughing was _definitely_ worth looking into.

"Well well," Maylene heard Sebastian say, "aren't you beautiful, my little kitten?"

_W-what!_ Maylene thought. _D-d-does he have c-company?_

Maylene heard Sebastian laugh again. "My my, kitten, you're an impatient one, aren't you? Well, alright then. Come over here…"

_W-what are they doing in th-there!_ Maylene was starting to panic. So far, it had sounded like he was talking to a girl…_Perhaps it's his lover?_

This thought preoccupied Maylene, making her heart drop to her stomach and distracting her from the purring on the other side of the door. No longer listening to the one-sided conversation taking place in Sebastian's room, Maylene was gathering her resolve. She had decided to interrupt Sebastian's day off.

_I have to know who that other person is_, Maylene thought. She took a deep breath. _Okay…one…two…three!_

"E-excuse me, Mr. Sebastian!" Maylene called out. She opened the door and saw something quite…unexpected. Maylene stared in shock for a while, not quite believing her own eyes.

"It's a…cat."

Inside his room, Sebastian was sitting on the bed, petting a jet black cat with amber eyes. But even though the cat was distracting, Sebastian's appearance was even more so. He wasn't wearing his tailcoat, his vest was unbuttoned and hanging on his shoulders, and the first few buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned so that you could see his collarbone.

_O-o-oh m-my –! _Maylene thought, flustered and embarrassed beyond belief. _S-Sebastian is-…he's –!_

Not being able to handle the situation any longer (even though in reality it had only been a few seconds), Maylene's scarlet face was splashed with crimson in a color scheme that would have made Grell envious with its different hues. Quickly losing consciousness, Maylene's sight blurred, going into a familiar blackness…

…In other words, she had a nosebleed and fainted.

Sebastian simply kept petting his most precious cat, wondering why Maylene had come into his room. Well, in any case, she had passed out on the floor, for some reason…

He sighed to himself. "Really," he muttered, "this maid is truly a strange one. Though really," he said, looking down at himself, "I suppose my appearance is partly to blame…"

Sebastian turned to the cat. "Wait for me here, my little kitten." He got up and straightened up his appearance, then knelt down and shook Maylene.

"Maylene? Miss Maylene? Are you awake?" Sebastian attempted to shake her awake, but to no avail. Maylene was still deluded. _From the looks of it_, he thought, _she won't wake up for quite some time…_

With this thought, Sebastian quickly picked up Maylene and carried her out of the room. Outside the door, he noticed the slightly-less clean sheets that were set on the dressing table in the hall.

"Really," Sebastian partially mumbled to himself, "just what were you doing?"

Sebastian carried the maid to her room, which made an interesting task when there was no one to open the door except himself. He laid her on the bed, putting her glasses on the dresser next to it. He thought about unlacing her shoes, but if she were to wake up and somehow deduce that he had done so, she might also figure out that he would have seen under her skirt…which could end badly. Instead, he positioned her so that her shoes wouldn't dirty the blanket and left it at that.

With Maylene taken care of, Sebastian closed her door and went back to the pile of sheets. When looking at them, he recognized them as the ones for the young master's bed.

"It would seem that I will have to work, even on my day off," said Sebastian. Going to his room to fetch his tailcoat, he saw the cat looking curiously up at him.

"Mew?" The cat asked, looking (in Sebastian's eyes) adorably cute.

Sebastian bent down to scratch it behind the ears. "I'm sorry, my little kitten, but I have to go for a while. Wait until I get back."

Closing the door, Sebastian turned his attention to the streets. They weren't spotless, but it would have been a waste of time to wash them again. So he simply picked up the sheets and was on his way to the young master's room.


	11. Introductions part 1

It was a beautiful London morning. Outside, the birds were singing, the flowers were in full bloom, and the sun was shining down through a cloudless sky. Two carriages were being pulled through the ash-colored city, every now and then going past buildings that were already being restored or rebuilt, no doubt projects taken up by the gentry.

Maylene stared out of the window as the carriage she was in passed London by. She was going to the Middleford manor after a somewhat tearful goodbye from the new owners of the young master's townhouse. Agni had had to hold the prince back so that he didn't blubber over the Marchioness in gratefulness for letting them stay in, nonetheless _own_, the late Earl's townhouse.

As the carriage approached the edge of London, Maylene shifted her gaze at the other occupant of the carriage. Sebastian was looking out the window, his profile as magnificent as ever. They were sitting across from each other, not speaking much.

Maylene let her eyes take in Sebastian's face. His black hair was falling slightly out of place from where the Marchioness had forced him to slick it back. His chin rested on his gloved hand. His hazel eyes gazed out the window with mild attentiveness. Maylene found herself fascinated by his eyes. They actually seemed to be the same color as her own eyes, but could see perfectly. She may not have liked her eyes, but Sebastian's…

"Maylene?" She started, realizing those hazel eyes were now focused on her.

"Y-yes, M-Mr. Sebastian?" Maylene stammered.

Sebastian smiled softly at her, which in turn made her blush. "Maylene, you should simply call me 'Sebastian'. You were doing so before, weren't you?"

Maylene's blush darkened. "A-all right, then…...Sebastian." Just saying his name made her feel so close to him…

Sebastian closed his eyes, but kept smiling. "That is good," he said. "Now then…may I ask why you were staring at me?" he bluntly asked.

Maylene's face flushed up to her ears. "I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean t-to! I-I just…"

"It's alright," Sebastian said. "I was merely curious. If you do not with to answer –ˮ

"N-no!" Maylene interrupted. "It's fine! I-it's just…"

Maylene went quiet for a minute, making Sebastian wonder if she would continue. Eventually, he heard her mumble something.

"Pardon?" he asked. Even though he had superhuman hearing, he usually chose not to listen to it unless there was danger or if everyone had fallen asleep. Otherwise all of the noise would threaten to give him a headache or make his existing one even worse.

"I-…I don't feel like it after all," Maylene repeated, looking down so that he wouldn't see her embarrassment, even though it was probably already too late for that.

Sebastian looked over at Maylene for a while. He was not even human, but it seemed as though he knew more about human interaction than she did. It was fairly ironic, if he thought about it.

_Ah, well_, he thought, _it would seem that I am the one who needs to start any sort of conversation._

Thinking this, Sebastian spoke up. "Are you nervous about going to work at a new manor? Those people shall not tolerate your mistakes as the young master did."

"I…I know," Maylene replied solemnly. The blush was completely gone from her face now, and she seemed visibly upset.

_Perhaps I am not so good with human communication as I thought I was_, Sebastian thought. "Maylene?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she answered, "I am fine. But…" Maylene hesitated, fighting off the blush that never seemed to get tired of visiting her face. "Sebastian?"

Inwardly, Sebastian smirked, enjoying Maylene's slight discomfort and nervousness, mentally shaping her soul into a suitable sacrifice for his father. Outwardly, he only smiled and replied, "Yes, Maylene?"

"C-could you promise me t-to–…if I get fired, to go with me…somewhere else?"

Sebastian chuckled before saying, "Of course I could. The real question should be if you wish me to make that promise."

"R-really?" Maylene looked at him in disbelief, color tinting her cheeks. It was amazing how much kinder Sebastian had become since they had become a couple. He would never have done anything like this…she thought. Actually, when she kept thinking about it, she realized that she knew very little about Sebastian…

…But such things would come with time…wouldn't they?

Just as Maylene was thinking this, Sebastian got up and shifted to sit on her side of the carriage. He placed his hand next to hers, close enough to be noticeable, but not close enough as to make her feel uncomfortable.

"It's true," Sebastian said, looking at her with a smile. "I never lie."

Maylene blushed, looking out the window again to see that they were still passing through the woods. The Middleford mansion was surprisingly far away, considering how early she used to arrive at the Phantomhive manor.

Maylene shook herself from her thoughts. Nothing good ever happened when she thought by herself anymore. Instead, she turned her attention back to the hand that was so close to hers. She was too shy to hold it, like she wanted to at that moment, but –…

It was like Sebastian had read her mind. "Maylene?" he asked in that smooth voice of his. "Do you mind if I held your hand?"

Maylene looked up at him, surprised he would ask such a thing. Her heart beat faster, pumping the blood in her veins faster, tinting her cheeks red…yet again.

However, Maylene was learning from experience for once. She didn't trust herself to speak, instead pushing her hand towards his and looking down at the bench they were sitting on.

Sebastian felt something brush against his hand. Surprised, we looked down and saw that it was Maylene's hand. Chuckling to himself, he took her hand with his gloved one, giving her a reassuring squeeze. They sat there in silence, Maylene trying to control her heartbeat while Sebastian looked out the window.

After a moment of this, Sebastian noticed that they were almost at the Middleford manor. He caught a glimpse of the glorious white mansion through the trees as they passed the forest by. He had visited the Marchioness's abode before, when Ciel had been forced to attend a party of his aunt's. The young child had gained many new business partners and hadn't been too bothered by Edward or the Marchioness, so he had been in an especially good mood that evening.

Sebastian shifted his gaze to Maylene. In contrast to the content, level-headed boy, Maylene was fairly on edge and looked like her head was about to explode.

"Maylene, we are almost at the Middleford manor now," Sebastian said.

Maylene was startled out of her embarrassment by his words. "Eh? A-already?" she asked, looking up at him.

Sebastian smirked. "Are you feeling nervous?" he asked, even though the demon already knew the answer.

"A-a l-l-little bit…" Maylene stuttered, trying not to panic. Who would her superior be? Would they be a nice person? Would her far-sightedness make her lose the job? Where would Sebastian be? Would she be able to see him often? How would they be able to see each other?

All of these questions surged within Maylene's mind, trying to distract her from fighting off the fear and uncertainty they brought. Sebastian noticed that Maylene was battling her inner demons, or more accurately, noticed that she looked to be getting closer and closer to having a panic attack.

"Just try to relax, Maylene," he said, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "I am certain that there should be at least one kind person working at the manor who would not mind befriending you. In any case, I will be with you the entire time, so there should be nothing to worry about."

For some reason, Sebastian's reassurance calmed Maylene's fears. Perhaps it was the light tone of his voice, or the fact that Sebastian was almost never wrong and had proved it many times before in the Phantomhive household. It may have even been Maylene's love for him that was clouding her vision of the darkness plaguing her. In any case, Maylene found herself looking up at Sebastian and staring into his hazel eyes. A pang of longing and want coursed through her heart, and she suddenly had the strangest feeling – that she didn't want anything to go any further than this. Not the birds in the sky, not the horses' hooves clopping on the ground, not the carriage that the horses pulled, and not the two servants holding hands inside of the carriage.

The feeling deeply unsettled Maylene, as it didn't quite go along with those feelings of love she held for the butler. It felt slightly more…ominous than that.

Nervously, Maylene started to speak, still gazing into Sebastian's amber eyes. "Sebastian, I –ˮ

That was as far as she got, as the driver had chosen that moment to stop the carriage. Both of the passengers looked out of the window to see that they had arrived the front doors of the Middleford manor. Sebastian stepped out of the carriage and held his hand out to Maylene to help her down. Maylene blushed but accepted his help, all of her concerns from before forgotten entirely.

While Sebastian took their bags down with the driver, Maylene took a look around. She was awestruck as she took in the blooming garden with green-leaved trees, the perfectly trimmed lawn, and the glorious white mansion that loomed over her. It was even grander than the late Earl's estate.

Maylene was temporarily sidetracked by this thought. She was somewhat surprised that she could think of her previous master now without feeling that she could mourn for him all over again. Even though it had only been a short two weeks since Pluto went out of control…

She shook off the thought, attempting to focus on the patch of lilies in front of her. In fact, she was so focused on the lilies that she didn't notice the person approaching her from behind until their shadow loomed over her.

"Maylene." Sebastian had finished getting their luggage down from the roof of the carriage and had walked over to fetch her.

Needless to say, Maylene jumped.

"E-eh? Sebastian? What is it?"

"We need to go with our luggage to the servants' entrance around the side of the mansion. Miss Paula is expecting us there." Sebastian extended his hand for the second time that day, the picture of a perfect gentleman.

Maylene took his hand and let him help her up, though she turned her face to the side so that her blush wouldn't be quite so obvious. Sebastian then took all of their luggage (which wasn't much, in the end) and led Maylene towards the side of the manor. They walked next to the carriage path that was carefully concealed so as not to offend the eyes of the guests that visited. When they arrived at the small servants' door, Sebastian's honesty was proven once again, as Paula was waiting for them.

However, she wasn't the only one who was waiting for the couple. Next to Paula was an older man wearing a butler's uniform. He looked to be middle-aged, wrinkles creasing his face. His graying hair was combed to one side of his head, and he had an air of impatience about him.

As Sebastian and Maylene approached the other two servants, Paula gave a bright smile and walked over to Maylene with a look of concern in her eyes.

"Oh, Miss Maylene! You're here! How nice to see you again! Are you alright?"

Maylene managed to pull her face into a smile. "I'm alright, Miss Paula. I'm just a bit…depressed still, is all."

Maylene and Paula were already well-acquainted with each other from all of the times Elizabeth had insisted on sleeping over at Ciel's manor. The two usually shared the maid's quarters when that happened, gossiping and talking about various girly topics. They had always made Maylene feel slightly left out from her childhood's potential, but she had never dwelled on it. Maylene then noticed something was off from what she thought it should be.

"Eh….Paula? Isn't the head maid supposed to meet us here?"

When new servants were introduced to a household, it was only natural for the head servant working there to take some time to introduce the new servant to the rest of the staff, explain to them what their job is and what it entails, and to give a quick tour of the basic workplace and the new servant's room, if not the entire estate. However, it was obvious that Paula was not the head maid since she attended to Elizabeth as the young girl's own personal maid.

Paula shook her head and replied, "No, Miss Maylene. Miss Elizabeth has requested that you be another of her personal maid, and since I am the only one of those right now, I'll be introducing you to the job."

"Eeh?" Maylene stammered. "D-does that mean that y-you will be my b-b-boss?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry, Miss Maylene!" Paula chirped happily, taking Maylene's hands in hers. "I won't treat you like an underling, so we can still be friends!"

"Miss Paula…" An air of friendship hung about the two girls, giving them their own little world.

Well, at least for the moment.

A stern voice made itself known behind this spectacle of friendship when it shouted out, "Miss Paula!" Elizabeth's maid seemed to realize who was behind her as she returned to reality. "You should not act so friendly with a new servant, even if you knew her before she came here!"

"Ah," Paula responded with a nervous smile. "I-I apologize, Mr. Barnaby." Paula looked back to the two newest additions to the Middleford manor's staff. "Miss Maylene, Mr. Sebastian, this is Mr. Frederick Barnaby, the head butler." In saying this, Paula gestured towards the middle-aged man standing behind her.

Mr. Barnaby, Sebastian noted, had the same look about him as the Marchioness. He stood with his back straight and his head held high. His eyes had a strict look in them, and his mouth was turned downward in a slight frown. The head butler of the Middleford family had graying brown hair and blue eyes that were currently trying to pierce through Sebastian's overcoat.

Sebastian, who had so far been completely passive (if not nonexistent) in the conversation, put down the suitcases and looked up at Mr. Barnaby with his most polite smile on his face.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Barnaby," Sebastian said, inclining his head to resemble a short bow.

For some reason, Mr. Barnaby looked surprised at this action. _I cannot see why_, Sebastian thought to himself as he straightened his posture. _It is only proper manners, after all._

Nonetheless, Sebastian's proper manners had made an impression on his new supervisor. "So," Mr. Barnaby mused, "you have good manners. Very good, very good…"

Sebastian wasn't sure whether this was remark was meant to be offensive to if it was a simple observation. His confusion only grew as the other man turned and walked back to the door, mumbling his own half-formed thoughts to himself. He and Maylene glanced first at each other, then at Paula's apologetic expression. After the head butler disappeared behind the door, Paula turned to the two new servants.

"I apologize about that," Paula said. "Mr. Barnaby can be a bit…hard to understand, sometimes. Well then, come on inside! No point in standing out here all day!"

With that, Sebastian picked up the luggage. He walked beside Maylene, both of them following Paula as she approached the door –

– right as the door swung open.

"Paula!" Mr. Barnaby shouted. "You're too slow! Where are the –ˮ

The Middleford's head butler stopped shouting as his head peeked around the edge of the door. Luckily, Paula had halted just two feet before the door…which was just enough so that she wasn't currently with a broken nose. An awkward silence descended upon the group, leaving at least three of them stunned frozen.

The key word here is "three".

Mr. Barnaby blinked as he realized what had just happened. His entire reaction was summed up into one word. One, miniscule, nondescript word.

"Ah. Well, come inside already," Mr. Barnaby said, ushering in the recovering victims of his outburst. "We haven't a moment to waste."

As Sebastian shifted all of their luggage to his left arm (since he couldn't carry it all with one hand) and attempted to guide Maylene with his right, he tried hard not to think of how unsettling an omen this was.

_This may be harder than I thought._

~X~~~0~~~X~

"Here we are," Mr. Barnaby announced. "Your rooms."

The unfortunate couple had been dragged around half the manor before Mr. Barnaby had noticed that Sebastian was still carrying the suitcases and had led them here. Maylene was worried that Sebastian may have been tired, but he had continually insisted that it was alright, and kept carrying both of their luggage through the manor, even though the other servants' snickering and pitiful looks weren't exactly hidden.

"Paula," Mr. Barnaby continued, "if you would please escort Miss Maylene to her room?"

"Of course! Follow me, Miss Maylene!" Paula motioned with her hand towards an adjacent hallway and began to lead Maylene to the women's quarters.

"Maylene," Sebastian called out, "you'll be needing your things."

Mr. Barnaby and Paula stopped dead in their tracks, dumbfounded. Sebastian had just addressed Maylene in the most informal was possible. Both turned around sharply to watch as Maylene blushed slightly and Sebastian sorted out her luggage from his.

"Th-thank you, S-Sebastian!" Maylene stuttered, turning red as she took her bags from his outstretched hand.

As Maylene took the bags, Paula and Mr. Barnaby exchanged a look to see if the other had the same suspicions. Confirming each other's thoughts, they looked back at the two servants with a newfound objective in mind.

Paula beamed at Maylene, her smile hinting at mischief. "Thank you, Mr. Sebastian! Now, come along, Miss Maylene!" Paula tugged on the other girl's arm. "I must show you where you are staying!"

Sebastian sighed as he watched Maylene let herself be dragged away by an over-enthusiastic Paula. If nothing else came out of his plan, he would have at least the splitting headache that usually came with dealing with humans. Of course, he would have the migraine anyways, but if the plan went as well as he hoped it would, the recompense would more than make up for his pains…

Perhaps unfortunately, to the average (human) passersby, Sebastian's sighing and spacing out on his own train of thought could be seen as lovesickness. Namely, by one certain passersby by the name of Frederick Barnaby. Mr. Barnaby observed Sebastian staring at the spot where Maylene had been, the demon distracted by his own musings.

_Are things yet to spark between these two?_ Mr. Barnaby wondered with a frown. To him, Sebastian seemed to look upset with himself. However, as the head butler of the Middleford mansion, he still had his own tasks to get to after this.

"Mr. Sebastian?" Mr. Barnaby's voice brought the other man out of his reverie.

"Yes?" Sebastian responded politely, turning around to show off an incredibly polite smile.

"We must continue on with the last leg on our tour, if you don't mind." Mr. Barnaby wore an expression of scorn, discouraging the new servant's passiveness.

"Ah, my apologies." Sebastian shifter his grip of his only suitcase and turned towards his new boss. "Shall we be going, then?"

Mr. Barnaby snorted disdainfully (much like the Marchioness did) and turned on his heel. He started walking down the hall, mumbling under his breath about how "there's just no more good help to be found these days. I swear, I'm just losing my patience with the lot of them." Sebastian took that as his cue to follow, silently keeping a few feet behind the muttering man in front of him.

When they arrived at the correct door, Mr. Barnaby looked behind him to see if Sebastian was still there. Then he wordlessly opened the door, stepping aside to let Sebastian see inside.

Sebastian was admittedly surprised to see that the room had only one large bed, one dresser, one nightstand and one of any other furnishing adorning the room. It was set up so that, along with the usual basic furniture, there was also a small table with multiple chairs around it. Compared to his room in the Phantomhive manor, it had more splendor and had a distinctly cozier feeling to it.

"Is this truly my room?" Sebastian asked, still standing at the doorway.

"It is," Mr. Barnaby replied. "I had heard from Madam Middleford about your previous status as a head butler and decided that you have already earned a room of your own. Now, your duties are still undecided, but for the time being you will assist anyone else who needs the extra help. Since I don't know your skills, that will be the way that I will assess your skills. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Barnaby," Sebastian said, distracted by the room.

Mr. Barnaby's eyebrow twitched as Sebastian set his suitcase on the bed. It irritated him somewhat to know that the other man was only partially listening, but he supposed he could understand.

"You are expected," Mr. Barnaby went on, "to be in the kitchen by six-thirty to be given your duties for the day. Supper is at seven o' clock, where you and Miss Maylene shall be introduced to the other staff. If you have any questions, you may ask the others…However, if I could ask you a question of my own?"

Sebastian looked up from his spot in one of the chairs, curious. "Of course. What do you wish to ask me?"

"Why did you address Miss Maylene so familiarly?"

"Ah." Sebastian blinked. "Well, we _are_ lovers."

Mr. Barnaby nearly choked. He hadn't been expecting to be told his answer quite so…_bluntly_.

Sebastian saw the shock on his face and quickly added, "As of right now, though, we are just courting –ˮ

"No, no," Mr. Barnaby interrupted, shaking his head. "I have my answer."

Sebastian watched as Mr. Barnaby went as if to close the door. However, he paused for a moment, smiling knowingly at Sebastian (again, much like the Marchioness).

"I hope that things go well between you two," Mr. Barnaby said, before finally closing the door.

Left with his thoughts, Sebastian began to unpack his suitcase, putting away the few things he had brought with him. His movements were normal for him, and in a minute he had put everything away. Sitting down on the side of his bed, Sebastian looked around his room. Slowly, the demon grinned, letting his guise as "Sebastian" slip for the moment.

_Now, to prepare…_

~X~~~0~~~X~

"Here we are!" Paula exclaimed cheerfully as she threw open the door.

Inside the room were three beds, three dressers with mirrors, and two nightstands between the beds. Two of the beds and dressers were already taken, the beds marked by quilts and the dressers marked by beauty products. There was one spare bed by the window, the dresser crammed between it and the wall so that there was little room to stand between the two.

"Sorry that you got the short end of the stick," Paula started, "but it's the only bed left. Anyways, I am supposed to tell you about the rules and such, but we'll have plenty of time for that later. For now, how about we get you settled in?"

"I really do appreciate this, Miss Paula," Maylene said gratefully. "I don't know what I'd do if –ˮ

"Well, there's no use trying to figure it out now, then, is there?" Paula interrupted with a sly wink.

Maylene sheepishly smiled back and put her suitcases next to her comparatively bland bed. Maylene was exhausted from the introductory walk around the manor. Her legs were practically shaking! She couldn't imagine how Sebastian had managed it; and carrying the suitcases as well!

"Well?" Paula asked, sitting next to her. "What do you think?"

Maylene come out from her thoughts and surveyed her small corner. "It's a bit cozy," she confessed, "but I like it."

Paula smiled brightly at Maylene before she remembered something. "Maylene, did you hear about –ˮ

Instantly, the two women were gossiping about the many happenings of their lives, most of it coming from Paula. It was these kinds of things that made Maylene feel that she really was a girl. Even though her maid's dress still tripped her up sometimes, and despite that she still sometimes felt silly wearing frills, she still could feel that she really was a girl.

After an especially silly topic and both girls were giggling their heads off, Paula queried, "Maylene? May I ask you something, just between us girls?"

"Y-yes," Maylene replied, "of course!"

"Before, you were speaking to Mr. Sebastian so informally…" Maylene had a sudden ominous feeling in her gut as Paula gave a mischievous grin. "Are you being courted by him?"

Instead of answering, Maylene stammered incomprehensible nonsense and blushed furiously, the thought of she and Sebastian arm in arm, walking together through London on a day off, kissing –

Paula tried to support Maylene as very real visuals of her and Sebastian's kissing came to mind. More specifically, one certain image of her brazenly forcing Sebastian's lips to her own…in his room…

Before Maylene could wonder where her modesty had gone, Paula shook her from her thoughts. Literally.

"Miss Maylene?" Paula's voice was wrought with concern as she shook Maylene by her shoulders. "Are you alright? I-I am sorry for asking such a question! I knew it was a sensitive subject, but I –ˮ

"I-it's alright, Miss Paula," Maylene managed to say through her receding embarrassment. "He – Sebastian _is_ c-c-courting me, but w-we haven't said as much yet."

Paula's eyes lit up. "Eh? So you and Mr. Sebastian really are –?"

Maylene nodded before Paula could finish her sentence and send her into another fit of blushing.

"Congratulations, then!" Paula exclaimed. "I had no idea! Since when have you two been together?"

"Well," Maylene murmured, "w-we've only been t-together since recently…"

Paula opened her mouth to ask questions (as she had many of them) when the door opened in front of them. Another girl who wore the same maid's dress as Paula's walked in. She had raven black hair and ocean blue eyes which widened in surprise to see Maylene and Paula sitting on the edge of the previously unoccupied bed.

"Miss Paula? What are you doing here?" the girl asked, clearly more confused by Maylene's presence than Paula's.

Instead of directly answering the question, Paula said, "Ah! I almost forgot! Miss Maylene, this is Lillianne Derecks. Miss Lily, this is Maylene. She is the new servant that I told you about. She will be sleeping with us here."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Maylene," Lillianne said, giving a short curtsy towards the red-head.

"N-nice to meet you too!" Maylene stammered, slightly bowing her head in lieu of actually curtsying.

"Well then, Miss Lily," Paula spoke up, "would you mind staying here with Miss Maylene and introducing her to the basic rules here? I still need to finish the rest of my chores and return to Miss Elizabeth."

Lily blinked before replying, "I wouldn't mind, though I still have to –ˮ

"Thank you, Miss Lily!" Paula interjected. "I'll see you both at supper, then!"

With that, Paula fled the room, leaving Maylene and Lillianne to themselves. Lillianne stared after the closed door for a minute and sighed, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Turning to Maylene, she asked, "So? What do you need to know?"

"Beg pardon?" Maylene asked, snapping out of her trance.

"What hasn't Miss Paula told you about yet?" Lillianne reiterated. "I've only got a half-hour before I have to get to work again."

"Ah! W-well," Maylene started, "I don't know much about what my new routine will be, or what's to be expected of me, or when supper or breakfast is. In fact," she concluded, "Miss Paula hardly told me anything at all."

"Well then," Lillianne said, plopping down on the bed across from Maylene, "I will explain the goings-on of the manor for now, and we shall try to become acquainted with one another later tonight. Is that alright with you?"

Maylene brightened up. "Y-yes, of course!"

That was right. She was going to live and work here from now on. She still somewhat missed her old friends, but she had a new start once more, and she was not going to mess this chance up. She would never go back to a life of crime, not after her now deceased young master had saved her from it. So she paid attention to what Lillianne was telling her, letting go of her old life and looking forward to her future, together with Sebastian.

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**Phew! This chapter was SUPER long, wasn't it? I apologize if Maylene was blushing alot, but come on - it's Maylene. She tends to do that. Alot. **

**Sorry this took so long to get up here! There is no way to apologize for this, but there are about a thousand ways I can excuse myself. Life getting busier, people dragging me into their issues, getting dragged kicking and screaming from my computer to school...that kind of stuff. Plus, I've been really tired lately, so deal with it. At least be grateful that I DID update. Unlike some I couldn't remember to name...**

**If any of you were wondering, I properly dealt with my disorderly notice. He was _begging_ to be killed by the time I got through with him...hehehehehe...**

**I don't got much else to tell you, other than that these filler chapters will continue until...next chapter. To be honest, I'm not sure myself, though I'm trying to make the next chapter the last one. I'm also sorry that the shinigami didn't appear in this one, but if you think about it, it's really still the morning after the last chapter. This only covers about half of the day, say...a little after noon? Really. I'm not joking. I just couldn't stand to skip it all. It's not in me. **

**Well, now I must get back to my life, however much I wish to live someone else's. But, you know, that never seems to work out in any cartoon, novel, or manga I've ever seen, so...too bad, I guess. So, I shall just live my life and try to be productive!**

**Yup! Any minute now...**

**...ANY minute now...**

**...whatever. Lazing around, it is.**


	12. Introductions part 2

Sebastian stood in his room, sighing to himself. Unlike an hour ago, his suit was now torn and dirtied in many places, traces of blood splattering the uniform here and there. The window was open, the partially bloodied curtains billowing in the wind. The only other telltale signs of Sebastian's doings were the dirty footprints on the windowsill and the floor, leading to him.

Using his superhuman speed, Sebastian changed into his only spare suit and cleaned the traces of dirt that he had tracked in. The destroyed suit was quickly stashed in one of the many spare drawers in his new dresser, to be burned at a more convenient time. Double-checking his appearance, Sebastian straightened his tie and smoothed his hair back from its usual style – though he would be keeping this style for a short while, wouldn't he?

_That is all for the preparations_, Sebastian thought, scrutinizing his reflection. _Now, to work…_

Sebastian stepped out of his temporary quarters and strode down the hall. He needed to blend into his surroundings for now, and that meant acting the part of Maylene's lover. He would most likely wait another week before entrapping Maylene as a sacrifice to his father. Sebastian was only waiting so long so that he could build more trust within Maylene.

Truly, going to such lengths to please his father was so troublesome. But as long as he was not subjected to Hell's wrath in the end, this would be time well spent.

As he went to round the corner, another body slammed into his, yelling "Gyaaah!". Sebastian blinked, the impact barely fazing him. On the other hand, the other person had been thrown back and landed on their rear, if their complaints were anything to go by.

"Ouch! You – Why didn't you watch where you were –ˮ The dark-haired maid stopped her chastising as she laid her eyes upon the handsome man above her.

"I do apologize, miss," Sebastian said, offering his hands out to her. "It would seem that I was not paying attention to where I was going."

Snapping out of her daze, the maid gratefully accepted his help, keeping her wide-open, ocean blue eyes on him. "Pardon me," she said, "but who might you be?"

"Ah," Sebastian responded. "I have just begun to work here at the manor. My name is Sebastian Michaelis. I look forward to working with you."

"I shall look forward to it myself…" The maid trailed off, dusting off her skirt and bowing in a curtsy. "I am Lillianne Derecks, though most people call me Lily. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Forgive me for skipping the pleasantries," Sebastian cut in, "but I am looking for another new servant by the name of Maylene. Would you happen to know where she is at present?"

Lillianne blinked, recalling where she had just come from. "I do, in fact," she replied. "She is just now unpacking he bags. Her room is in that hall –ˮ here she pointed to where she had just come from – "the third door on the right."

Sebastian gave Lillianne one of his trademark polite smiles. "Thank you, Miss Lillianne. If you will excuse me…" He tried to step around her, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm.

"If…if you wouldn't mind, Mr. Sebastian, I would like the chance to get to know both you and Maylene better tonight. Since I am sharing a room with her, would it be acceptable for you to visit us both tonight?"

"But of course," Sebastian said for the sake of getting on with his plan. "Then I shall see you both later tonight."

With that Sebastian deftly extricated his arm from the woman's grasp and went on his way, feeling her eyes on his back until he turned the corner into the hall she had pointed out.

_Honestly_, he thought, _I have no time for such frivolous human sentiments. Although, I do suppose that I am entertaining such sentiments…_

Knocking on the third door on the right, Sebastian checked his pocket watch. _1:46._ "Maylene? Are you in there?"

"J-just a m-minute, Sebastian!" Maylene quickly put away her undergarments into a drawer and went to the door.

Opening the door, Maylene's heart sped up at the sight of Sebastian – now her lover instead of her boss. Something in her mind was still amazed at the idea, even as she invited him in to her room. Watching him sit casually on the edge of the closest bed, she stood by the closed door and simply stared for a moment, hoping not for the first time that with so many strange occurrences happening all around her that this was not all just a dream.

"Maylene?" Sebastian questioned, breaking into her thoughts. "Would you like to sit down?" He patted the space next to him, obviously inviting her to come over to him.

"S-sure!" Not hesitating even for the light blush on her cheeks, the redhead promptly went over and sat in the space immediately next to Sebastian, leaving only an inch or two of space to separate them.

"So," Sebastian began, "how do you like it here so far?"

"E-eh? What do you mean?" Maylene asked, confused.

"I was seeing if you liked it here or not."

"But we've only been here for less than a day!" Maylene protested.

"You were the one who wanted me to leave with her if things went wrong," Sebastian pointed out.

Maylene fully blushed this time. "I-I meant that if I end up getting fired –!"

"So I am not allowed to be concerned?" Sebastian countered, further driving on the other's hopeless embarrassment.

Maylene was now reduced to sputtering half-protests. Sebastian chuckled, enjoying his prey's folly. Such antics were rare in his world and truthfully, he would rather enjoy them now that he did not have to clean up afterwards. It was a shame that he was now on such a tight schedule.

"Truthfully, Maylene, I came here to tell you something." In a second, he had her full attention. "There is a rose garden that I have seen before a ways behind the manor. A short walk beyond that garden, into the woods, is a haven of flowers that will only bloom at night.

This, of course, intrigued Maylene. "What flowers are they? Are they beautiful? What color –ˮ

"Now, now," Sebastian chided. "I am keeping it a surprise. If you wish, we may explore the garden tomorrow night, and I may show you then."

"That would be wonderful!" Maylene exclaimed, practically exuding happiness. "But…why tomorrow night?"

"A woman named Lillianne who claimed to be your roommate said that tonight we could all get together and become better acquainted with one another."  
Maylene looked at Sebastian in surprise. "You spoke to Miss Lily already? But she left to go back to work only a few moments ago!"

"I bumped into her in the hall," Sebastian explained. "She told me where to find you."

"Oh," Maylene said, realizing how her lover had found her.

Maylene stared at Sebastian as he stood, straightening his suit to avoid wrinkles. "Well, that was all I wished to say," he said. "Since it looks like you have not yet finished unpacking, I will go and leave you to it. You might wish to rest afterwards before the tailor comes."

Maylene gasped as she remembered something – or more accurately, someone. "W-w-will the t-tailor b-be Miss Nana?"

"No, it will not," Sebastian reassured her. "I do not believe I know this person yet. I shall see you tonight, then."

"Y-yes!"

Maylene's face took on a shade of red when she saw her beloved's smirk just before he closed the door behind him. She stared after him through the door for a moment, her thoughts drifting in and out of her dazed mind. Just then the two o' clock chime sounded, startling Maylene out of her trance and reminding her of the task still at hand.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Maylene sat with the other maids, having supper after having been introduced to everyone. Sebastian was sitting with the male servants at a different table, at times talking to many people at once who wanted to get to know him. Maylene was very much in the same situation…except that for her it was more of a predicament.

"Miss Maylene, why do you need such large glasses?"

"What gave you such a hair color?"

"Did you and Mr. Sebastian come from the same place?"

"Now, now, girls!" Paula interrupted, saving Maylene from her own desperation. "How about we all properly introduce ourselves before we barrage her with questions?"

Maylene sighed in relief, unconcerned with the cries of "Whaaat?" that arose from the other maids. Paula was Maylene's savior at the moment. Earlier, Paula had told her that she would try to avoid giving her any work for the first week to help ease her out of her mourning. That in itself easily helped her to keep her job for that long, at least. This time she might even be able to do well at her duties, given enough time.

Supper went on with Maylene being introduced to the other female servants. Chelsea Jameson was a quiet brunette with green eyes; Katherine Lewis was an enthusiastic blonde with brown eyes; and on it went until supper was over and Maylene knew most of her new coworkers' names. The rest of the evening remained fairly uneventful, and soon enough she, Paula, and Lillianne were sitting in their room, waiting for Sebastian's arrival.

Hearing a knock on their door, Paula got up and answered it. "Good evening, Mr. –ˮ

"Miss Paula!" a voice – decidedly not Sebastian's – exclaimed. "Why are you letting this _newbie_ visit you in your room?"

Paula gasped in shock. "Wha-! Mr. Richards?"

"I do apologize, Miss Paula," Sebastian's voice said, "but this man insisted on following me here."

"Well?" the other man badgered. "Shouldn't you open the door for us?"

Without waiting for an answer, a man with sandpaper-colored hair wedged his lanky frame past Paula and dashed straight for Lillianne. "Lily! It's so great to see you again!"

"I just saw you a few hours ago, Mr. Richards," Lillianne commented, looking entirely unfazed.

"Oh, come on!" the man playfully said, his blue eyes turned lovingly onto her. "I told you to call me David!"

"I would prefer not to be that friendly with you."

As the man's confidence slumped, Sebastian took a seat on the edge of one of the beds. "Thank you for inviting me here, Lillianne."

Suddenly it was the apocalypse for Mr. Richards. "What? Don't tell me that _you_ invited that man here!" he practically shouted, sounding distressed.

"That is none of your business," Lillianne replied bluntly, avoiding the subject. "Now kindly leave before I bring Mr. Barnaby here to drag you out."

"Do you have to be so cruel?" Mr. Richards complained. Nonetheless, he slunk away to go to his quarters, but not before shooting a distrustful glare at Sebastian. One death glare from Lillianne sent him finally scurrying away.

"I apologize for that," Lillianne sighed as Paula shut the door and sat down with the rest of them. "That man was David Richards. He has been working here for about two years now and is constantly trying to gain my favor, even though I have no interest in him."

"I see," Sebastian stated.

"In any case," Paula cheerily said, "we should start getting to know each other better! Why don't you go first, Maylene?"

"S-sure!" Maylene stuttered. "Let's see…um…"

Sebastian sighed to himself watching Maylene attempt to do what was impossible for her. "How about I begin?" he asked, not waiting for a response. "My full name is Sebastian Michaelis. I will not tell you my age, interests, nor anything else of much interest to you."

"What?" Paula cried out. "Then how are we supposed to get to know you?"

"If you were just going to say that," Lillianne added, "why did you volunteer to go first?"

Sebastian gave his most polite smile and smugly said, "I would not have wanted to keep any of you in suspense, so I thought that I would get my introductions out of the way first."

"That just won't do!" Paula declared. "We're all going to answer each other's questions, including you! So, for the first question: how old are you?"

"I refuse to tell."

Before Paula could become too exasperated, Maylene quickly asked her own question. "W-well, what is your favorite color?"

Sebastian only took a second to meet Maylene's eyes before answering, "Black, though a deep violet is a close second."

"Hmph!" Paula humphed, her feathers now thoroughly ruffled. "So you will answer to _her_, but not to another woman, huh?"

Lillianne furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Eh? What are you insinuating, Paula?"

"Ah, that is right," Sebastian realized. "We have not told anyone else yet, have we?" He ended here, giving Maylene a pointed look.

"Eh –! W-we haven't yet, have we?" Maylene stammered, a small blush coming to her face.

Paula turned her attention to Lillianne. "Those two over there," she said, tilting her head to the other two people in the room, "are apparently secret-keeping lovebirds!"

"Really?" Lillianne said, looking back and forth between the blushing Maylene and the coo, suave butler. "You two are –?"

"Yes," Sebastian said, once again saving Maylene from having to talk through her momentary insecurity. "We are currently – how would you put it… "seeing each other"?"

Lillianne's hopes of making this handsome man fall in love with her were crushed with that sentence. She looked at Maylene for some sort of contention on the matter, but she was too busy trying to hide the fact that her face was as red as her hair. Sighing in defeat, Lillianne realized that she had lost the war before she could fight it.

"Well," she said with a small smile, "congratulations to you both, then."

Paula noticed something wrong with her friend and roommate and dutifully asked her, "Lillianne? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Lillianne said, laughingly brushing off the question. "I was just surprised for a moment. But since we are getting to know each other better, I think we should question our two new friends about their relationship, don't you?"

Paula took the hint and agreed, and excited gleam in her eyes. "Yes, of course! Maylene, why don't you tell us the details? How are things between the two of you?"

"You do realize that I am right here?" Sebastian queried, offended internally that any human should otherwise forget about his presence.

"A-ah! Well…"

Keeping up his polite façade, Sebastian simply chuckled to himself while the ladies fussed among themselves.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Listening to the sounds of the night from his place on the bed, Sebastian stared at the ceiling with mild interest. He had retired to his room at ten o' clock so as not to look suspicious to the others, even though he would only remain bored that much longer. After burning his other dirtied suit, he was left alone with this thoughts once more.

So far, the plan was going well. It had only been a day, but he was sufficiently blending in. Tomorrow he would have to stick to his schedule and capture Maylene so that she could travel to Hell without becoming a soul.

Haitius's word had proven true. His father was slowly coming to Earth, giving Haitius the time to get past him and warn Sebastian of his coming. However, it seemed that his loyal imp had not taken one thing into account.

His father's travel was speeding up.

It most likely had been by such small increments in the beginning, so minute and far apart that it had been unnoticeable to the raven imp. Then it may have slowly evolved to larger increments, while the time between the changes in speed had lessened. Now Sebastian could feel his father's presence getting closer and closer as time passed. It was impossible not to recognize the approaching aura of the demon who had controlled him in the early years of his life…existence…no, "life" was more fitting, for there was the possibility – however slight – of his death.

_At least the congregation of shinigami should give him some pause_, Sebastian thought. It had been a good idea to write that letter to the local shinigami. Even if they brushed off the note as an over-the-top prank, there would be at least one or two shinigami who would be sent to keep watch over the area, so someone would be alerted when the all-powerful Satan himself at last rose to Earth's surface.

Sebastian quickly reviewed his plan's progress in his head. The preparations to capture Maylene were in place…it would be a simple matter to call his minion to his side…and his father would prevent the shinigami from murdering him before he could arrive with his "gift"…though there was no guarantee that he would stop then before they had bloodied him up somewhat.

_Ah, well_, Sebastian mused. _There will be no helping that._ In the meantime, he could get one last night of luxury and sleep until dawn – several hours more rest than he would have allowed himself at the Phantomhive manor.

Relaxing one last time before his life literally went to Hell, Sebastian closed his eyes and went to sleep.

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**Happy Thanksgiving and happy NaNoWriMo! Granted it's about half an hour until midnight, but it's still good! =D**

**There's not much to say about this chapter except that it's shorter than the last few chapters I uploaded. I'm not sorry for it because there's not much to write about this time. This is kinda the warm-up chapter that leads into the next one. I just had to get it up because it'd be weird for me to suddenly skip over this scene and not explain anything. Next chapter will have the shinigami in it, I promise!**

**Please tell me if there are any stupid spelling errors or anything. I'm really too tired to tell. NaNoWriMo is intense. *sound of sore writing muscles cramping up painfully***

**Read and review! =)**


	13. Luring

**This chapter is dedicated to my recently deceased friend Bill and his memory. ~1/29/12**

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

It would undoubtedly be an ominous sight, if any mortal were to see it.

Hovering around a block island, a collection of some of the best Shinigami to ever exist kept an eye out for demonic activity. As the dead island was already a haven for demons, one would think that such a thing was fairly pointless; it wasn't as if Shinigami made it a point to take the time out their busy schedules to perform redundant tasks. Nevertheless they stood there, eyeing the place from their small boats with all the distrust and loathing that Hell's residents could expect from them.

One thing that the mortal would not see – _could_ not see – was the darkness and death that practically engulfed the island. That was far more clearly seen by the nearby Death Gods.

"Well…" one of said Death Gods started. "This is pretty important and all, but…"

"Why am I here!" Grell screeched, bursting the bubble of serious tension with his usual flamboyant flailing.

"The higher-ups decided that you would be an asset for this, though I can't imagine why…" William explained, pushing up his glasses with his death scythe.

"We~ll, it's not like one more Shinigami will hurt, right~?"

"And what are you doing here?" Grell spun around, pointing at the Undertaker. "I thought you were retired!"

"It's 'the more, the merrier' in this case, since we _are_ dealing with the worst of the Fallen. Truly, there is nothing worse than a demon, but the demons' overlord…" William shook his head, without words to describe such despicability.

"Besides, this could be the most fun to be had in ages~" Undertaker added, his usual grin on his face.

"Awwww…and here I wanted to get some time off, too. At least _you're_ here, Will~ Guh!"

William sighed, retracting his scythe as Grell fell to the bottom of their boat. "Really, the question is 'why am I here'? I don't even belong to this department…"

Undertaker laughed to himself at William's muttering. _These two are better than a two man comedy act! Such a nice way to ease the tension…_

An unfortunate thing occurred just then. Undertaker glanced to the island and, because of his many years of experience as a Shinigami, he happened to notice the change first.

"Ah. It looks like we'll have to face Lucifer after all," he remarked.

"Eh?" Grell asked, rubbing the back of his head. "What makes you say that?"

"Look."

Grell and William both peered at the dead island, William coolly observing and Grell squinting, nearly tipping the boat with how far he was stretching over the side. Sure enough, there was a transparent glow that seemed to be surrounding it.

"What's that glowing thing?" Grell murmured. "Looks familiar…"

"Have you seen a demon's contract when the demon had been given an order? That's what this is, only much larger." Undertaker chuckled at the redhead's reaction.

"W-what? Th-that thing is –!" Grell teetered backwards in shock, upsetting the boat and one of its other passengers as well.

"Stop making the boat tilt, Mr. Sutcliffe. You're making it difficult to stand."

"B-but…!" Grell sputtered, grasping for words. "But why is it that big? A summoning circle doesn't need to take up an entire island!"

"On the contrary, actually~" Undertaker corrected. "The larger a summoning circle is, the more powerful a demon can be and fit through it. Besides needing an accurately drawn circle, a powerful demon needs room to bring all of themselves into this world. In other words, one as powerful as Lucifer would need a lot of room~ Hehehe!"

William scoffed. "That demon's probably using enslaved souls to form the summoning circle, too…Demons are such disgusting creatures."

Grell scratched the back of his head, his eyebrows scrunched up as he pieced everything together. "So…since we can't do anything about the intangible souls, we just…wait?"

"That's the gist of it~"

"We can't get too close unless we want to risk our necks, so we have to wait here uselessly while paperwork stacks up…if I didn't have to be here, I could be getting my work done. Honestly…"

William looked back to the pentacle as it slowly grew more opaque. "Demons are such a pain."

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian's eyes flashed red. He sensed his father would soon arrive on the Demon's Isle, as he had dubbed it. That temper tantrum of his was _really_ coming back to haunt him. A large area devoid of life and soaked in demonic energy was just what his father needed to appear on Earth. It was also far removed from civilization, so no humans would bother him. Sebastian's only hope of escaping him at this point (without endangering his own life, of course) was that a rash Shinigami would get lucky and devastatingly wound him.

Sebastian sighed. _Too bad the chances of Father even being nicked are slim…_

"Hey! Mr. Michaelis!" Mr. Barnaby snapped. "Stop slacking and wake up to your work! We have to clean four more rooms before supper!"

Sebastian mentally scolded himself for letting his thoughts distract him. He was still a butler at the moment, after all.

"I apologize, Mr. Barnaby. I seem to be getting lost in my thoughts these days."

Mr. Barnaby narrowed his eyes at the former Phantomhive butler, managing to look authoritative with his feather duster. "I will have none of that while you're working here, Mr. Michaelis. I haven't even observed you full range of talents yet. Remember, wake up to your work!"

Mr. Barnaby turned back to dusting the shelves, leaving Sebastian confused. His new boss had been saying that all day. What did "wake up to your work" even mean? Such a thing should be said in the mornings, shouldn't it? On the other hand, Sebastian had heard him say it enough times that it could be his catchphrase.

Sebastian turned back to his work organizing the books by alphabetical order, using the names of the authors. The Middleford's library was very well organized under the Marchioness's orders, as was everything else under the manor's roof. It held the usual assortment of highly-regarded books that every noble should have as well as some old children's books and romantic literature.

He wasn't fond of his new uniform with its brown color scheme, but he knew he wouldn't remain here long. _That reminds me, I wonder how Maylene is managing to keep her job._

~X~~~0~~~X~

Maylene stood to the side in her new maid's dress, holding Elizabeth's black evening clothes as Paula helped the young lady change for supper. Her maid's dress was a dark auburn brown with a modest neckline and reasonable white apron tied around her skirt. She wasn't allowed to wear her combat boots, so she was precariously balancing on a dark brown pair of heels. Her feet and calves already ached from the new footwear and she had tripped four times today. Thankfully she hadn't been carrying anything breakable, since she was only acting as Elizabeth's servant.

Paula finished retightening the ties on Elizabeth's corset. "There! Now the young mistress will look cute at supper tonight!"

"Uh-huh…" Elizabeth dazedly acknowledged. Her blank eyes looked into the mirror, not truly registering anything.

Maylene flinched at her new charge's tone, sadness stabbing her heart. The usually-lively girl had been like this all day because Ciel was gone. Paula had told Maylene about how she had hoped that Ciel had just been missing again; how she had thought that Sebastian would bring him back, just like the last time. The maids had agreed not to tell Sebastian, but Maylene couldn't help but worry about Elizabeth saying something to him to losing her temper at him. She truly sympathized with her young mistress's feelings, but at this point, Sebastian was the only reliable light in her life. Without him, she…she might have to go back to – to –

"Miss Maylene! Could you bring over the dress?" Paula asked, bringing Maylene out of her thoughts.

"Y-yes!" Maylene piped up, carefully trotting over in her heels.

Paula turned back to Elizabeth. "Now, please lift your arms, young mistress."

Elizabeth didn't react. She stood there, her glazed eyes staring ahead at nothing.

"Miss Elizabeth?" The young noble blinked, returning to reality. "Miss Elizabeth, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Paula," the young girl said, smiling weakly. "Let's get that dress on, shall we?"

"H-here you are, Miss Paula!" Maylene handed the black mourning dress over to the other servant. Its color matched the clothes of the other Middlefords and the servants who owned black clothing. Maylene hadn't had any black clothes left, so she was wearing the maid's dress that the tailor had been able to give her on short notice. All of the servants would have their own mourning attire to wear by the end of the week.

The two maids helped Elizabeth into her dress, trying to cheer her up by complimenting her hair, talking about the weather, and otherwise keeping the conversation away from how Ciel was dead and would never return.

When they were finished, Paula and Maylene stepped back to admire their handiwork. Since Maylene had never help dress someone before, this was even more special for her. It had been like dressing a porcelain doll. Elizabeth stood there in her conservative black dress, her black veil adding to the melancholy effect.

"I-it looks good on you, young mistress!" Paula stammered nervously.

"Y-yes!" Maylene added. "You look quite cute, even in this outfit!"

Elizabeth blinked and looked at her newest servant. "You…you think…I look…cute…?" she asked quietly.

Startled, Maylene stammered, "O-of course! M-miss Elizabeth always looks c-cute!"

Elizabeth blinked. Her eyes focused on Maylene's face for a while, saying nothing. After what seemed like an eternity, the young noble girl smiled weakly.

"You know…you would look cuter, if…you took…your glasses…off…" Elizabeth weakly raised her trembling arm towards Maylene's face, managing to reach halfway…

Tears streamed down Elizabeth's cheeks, overflowing from the intensity of her sadness. The young girl hunched in on herself, loud sobs tearing out of her throat as she clutched at her heart. Even as her two personal servants tried to support her, her face was contracted in pain and her throat tried to constrict itself around her crying, seemingly trying to choke her.

"C-Ciel…he – he can't be –! H-he can't be g-gone…!" Elizabeth cried. "He'll come back…he _has_ to come back…!

Maylene looked at the mourning girl, holding her up on her left side while Paula tried to calm her down on her right. The amount of pain this young girl had to be going through…

_Elizabeth…_

~X~~~0~~~X~

Supper was a somber occasion for the Middlefords. The family ate silently, the Marquess's attempts to start a conversation gone unnoticed. The rest of the day dully passed by for the household and soon enough Maylene found herself in bed.

Maylene rolled over towards the door for the fifth time that night. Paula and Lillianne had already gone to sleep a while ago, their breathing deep and slow. Elizabeth's sudden crying had unsettled her, leaving Maylene feeling upset and anxious for no real reason. Turning back to the wall, she noticed the time.

_It's nearly a quarter to midnight…_ Maylene sighed and quietly sat up. It seemed that she wouldn't be getting to sleep anytime soon.

_Tap tap tap. _

The quiet sound of tapping caught Maylene's attention. She tilted her head, listening for the sound.

_Tap tap tap._

Maylene squinted in the darkness, feeling for her glasses on the bedside table. She quickly found them and put them on, looking at the source of the tapping noise.

_S-Sebastian?_ Her shock must have shown on her face, because he smirked at her and _tap tap tapped_ the window once more.

Maylene peered over at her new roommates, seeing they were still asleep. Quietly, she made her way over to the window and opened it.

"What are you doing here?" Maylene whispered.

"Well, I remember saying that I would take you out to see those night flowers that I mentioned earlier," Sebastian whispered back. "Or did you already forget?"

Maylene gasped, the memory coming back to her. "I-I'm sorry! Were you waiting long?"

"It's alright. How about you get dressed and I shall wait for you in the garden? Unless…" Sebastian quirked his eyebrow. "Do you not wish to go?"

"N-no! I-it's nothing like that!" Maylene risked a glance at the two other people in the room.

Sebastian pretended not to notice this. "Then I shall be waiting," he whispered. He jumped down from the ledge and landed gracefully on the ground.

Maylene closed the window, not paying attention to Sebastian's supernatural feat. Looking down at her rumpled nightgown, she could imagine what she looked like; frizzy hair, frumpled nightgown, no makeup…

Maylene slipped over to her dresser and started to fix her appearance as fast as she could.

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian stood in the garden, waiting for the prey to arrive. He had finished his chores late, since Mr. Barnaby had kept scorning him and demanding his attention for seemingly no reason. The trap was set in place and the barrier around it had not been breached. So far, everything was going as planned.

Ever since he had first sensed his father's now-imminent visit to Earth, the demon had carefully kept a mental note of the summoning circle's progression (as that is what it would be). By the growing knot of recognition in the back of his mind, he judged that it was almost fully formed. It would be completed soon. That would mean that "Sebastian's" father would be standing on the Demon's Isle by the time Maylene's capture was to happen.

"Sebastian" could no longer afford any lapses in concentration. His trap depended too much on unstable magic for that.

He supposed a distraction would do.

"S-Sebastian!" The ex-Phantomhive butler turned his head towards Maylene's shout. She was running to him, her cheeks tinted red as she hurried to be by his side.

If he were human he might feel bad about luring such a love-struck girl to such a fate.

"Maylene," Sebastian greeted. "It is nice to see you made it away from those other two."

"I-it's nice to…see you too…Sebastian," Maylene gasped.

"Well then." Sebastian offered Maylene his arm. Leading her around the garden for a while should do it. "Shall we?"

Maylene couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks as she took his arm. She would never have imagined that Sebastian would ever be this kind to her before. Such an amazing person was actually paying attention to her, even though he knew what she used to be…

Maylene turned her face into his shoulder, hiding her face like a child. _My prince…_

Sebastian observed Maylene impassively. _Human emotions are so difficult to understand sometimes_, the demon thought to himself.

Nonetheless, Sebastian smiled gently down at the redheaded maid. "I shall take that as a 'yes'."

Arm-in-arm with a demon, Maylene let herself be led into the dark garden, walking down the path laid down in front of her to Hell.

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**Hey there, guys. As it turns out, I get a lot of inspiration to write depressing stuff after a tragic event. Elizabeth's crying scene there was good for me to write, actually. Kinda strange how that works out. The ending was hard, though. The wording didn't ever really fit in my mind. This was my best effort that I could get out of myself. I may still just be in that depressed mindset, though. **

**I'm writing a oneshot in dedication to Bill, as well. Hope all of you will read it once I get around to posting it. **

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**I got around to posting it. The oneshot is called "Darkness of Souls" and was posted on Valentine's Day for a reason. Apparently, it doesn't take much to write a good story when I'm that motivated. For those of you following this story closely, I did indeed change the date on top to the actual day of Bill's death. **

**Hope you'll read my newest story! =)**


	14. Capture

**I'm finally updating this story again~! Aren't you all so proud of me?**

**So I'm finally getting back into the stories I should be finishing, instead of being distracted by all the shiny things out there on the Interwebs. Glad to be back, thank you very much! Anyways, read on! It's finally updated! What are you doing wasting time reading this for? Go on, read the new chapter! Anyone who's still got this story on Alert has only been waiting for forever! =D**

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

Maylene happily held onto Sebastian's arm as they walked through the garden. The Middlefords kept an even more extensive display of flora than the you– than Ciel had had. Maylene shook that depressing thought out of her head and squeezed Sebastian's arm. She shouldn't be thinking of such sad things on such a joyful occasion.

A midnight stroll through the garden with Sebastian...and it wasn't even for work! Maylene glanced up at Sebastian's face as he navigated the garden, gently directing her this way and that through the vast maze of bushes. She took in the sight of his face in the moonlight, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Sebastian felt Maylene lean her head on his arm as he moved them along through the twists and turns of the maze. Good. If the maid suddenly decided to flee, she would become lost on the way back.

Instead of voicing this, Sebastian looked down at Maylene and said, "It should be just a short distance away now."

"Mmhmm," Maylene lazily responded. Her head tilted more towards him, snuggling herself into him as if he were a pillow.

Ah. So the young lady was tired as well. This would make things simpler.

"This way," Sebastian said, pulling Maylene around a corner. They walked on, stopping after one last left turn.

"We are at the rose garden, Maylene," Sebastian informed her, shrugging his shoulder to wake her.

Maylene sleepily lifted her head and blinked behind her skewed glasses. Adjusting them, she gasped. A collage of red, white, and yellow roses greeted her eyes. Their dew-covered petals shined in the moonlight and their stems bobbed in the slight breeze. Marble statues adorned with ivy sat in beds of the beautiful flowers, the Greco-Roman style accented by them. In the center of the garden was a fountain where an angel stood, his marble hands forever holding a large vase on his shoulder from which water poured.

"Wow...! It's so beautiful!" Maylene gaped at the scenery, letting go of Sebastian's arm to wander forward and stare at the roses. While she was distracted, Sebastian went over to one of the maze walls. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Maylene was indeed not looking and set to work.

Being careful of the thorns, Maylene brushed her fingers across one of the roses' petals, feeling how soft it was. She didn't know how long she had kneeled there when she heard Sebastian clear his throat behind her.

Maylene looked over and saw him standing in front of a wooden gate that she hadn't noticed before. _How strange..._she thought, _but how magnificent!_

"Shall we move onward?" Sebastian asked, stretching his hand out towards her.

Maylene blushed. "Y-yes, we shall!" she said, scrambling to her feet and subsequently tripping over them.

Sebastian simply caught her without a word, his face deadpanning. _This girl...will eternally be a clumsy maid, won't she?_

Embarrassed, Maylene stood up straight and latched back onto his arm, childishly hiding her face. "L-let us g-go, then?" she half-asked, turning red.

Sebastian sighed and nodded. He led them through the gate, shutting it closed behind them. As they walked down the dark path, Maylene started to grow nervous.

"A-are y-y-you sure w-we are on th-the r-r-right path?" she asked, hesitantly glancing around.

"Of course," Sebastian said, eyeing the wooden gate behind them. His eyes shifted into red slits, focusing of the door.

The gate vanished. Sebastian's eyes returned to being amber and turned away from the wall of brush.

"Now then, we should arrive there in but a moment."

~X~~~0~~~X~

Sebastian and Maylene walked on in the dark, Maylene nervously looking around every now and then. Sebastian had been leading them through the maze and was now navigating them through the forest just beyond. They had been walking some time now in silence that had the maid on edge. Her nerves were high-strung as it was just being around Sebastian.

"W-w-when are we g-going to arrive?" Maylene stammered.

Sebastian looked around, not breaking their pace. "It should be just around the next bend...there."

Sure enough, a bend in their path appeared ahead of them. Walking beyond it, Maylene gasped again in surprise.

Glowing white flowers were spread across the field, petals open in full bloom. They shined in the night, brightening the clearing with an iridescent light. Dark blue flowers were interspersed between them, balancing out the glow of the others. Maylene looked around in awe.

"These flowers are so beautiful!" she exclaimed, kneeling in the field. Maylene stared at one of the white flowers, fascinated by its glow. It seemed that every time Sebastian amazed her, he would outdo himself. Maylene sighed dreamily, quickly letting herself become lost in her imagination.

Sebastian observed as Maylene distracted herself in front of the flowers. He stepped back, fading into the shadows unnoticed.

For quite a while Maylene contentedly sat there, hypnotized by the flowers, every so often petting one of their petals. Time seemed to stand still, closing her off from the rest of the world. Almost in a trance, Maylene looked up from her flower and gazed around the rest of the field.

A glow, brighter than that of the flowers, caught her attention. She rose to her feet and walked towards it, stopping just in front of it. It was a wall of light, just tall enough so that she could not reach over it. Maylene slowly raised her hand, reaching towards the light –

"Ow!" Maylene retracted her hand, snapped out of her trance. She stepped away from the wall, eyeing it warily. She looked down and winced. Her fingers had a new patch of red, sensitive skin that was hot to the touch. Maylene glanced back up to the wall.

It was getting closer.

Maylene scrambled back. She turned around and started running, only to stop dead. The wall of light had encircled her.

Maylene screamed. "S-Sebastian! Help!"

She looked around wildly. The light stretched upwards, curving in to form a dome around her that came closer, closer. Smaller.

"HELP! SEBASTIAN!"

The dome shrank around her. Maylene ran away from the light as much as she could, trapped in the center of the circle. As it closed in on her, Maylene curled into a ball, whimpering. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

"S-Sebastian..."

The dome came closer, smaller, shrinking. It reached her.

It consumed her.

When the light touched her, she screamed. Her life didn't flash before her eyes as some had said it would. She only screamed as her skin, her hands, her _eyes_ burned away. She screamed and screamed, even after her throat was burned away, after her vocal cords were gone, after she ran out of air in her lungs. The pain, so much pain, and the only release was – this odd, floating...darkness...

~X~~~0~~~X~

"Sebastian" stood at the edge of the field. There was a black circle where the plants had been incinerated by the light. In the center of the field floated the ball of light, held in place by the magic placed upon it.

Red, slitted eyes gave away the effort it took to keep the light's magics and boundaries in place. A shadow enshrouded the demon as he stepped forward, walking towards the ball of light. He took off his gloves, no longer caring about his nails showing. Bringing a string-tied pouch out of his jacket, he pulled it open and held it below the light. Slowly, it descended into the pouch, until the demon could close it and tie it shut.

The demon put the pouch back into his jacket pocket, smirking. A raven flew overhead and circled down, landing in front of him. It's form shifted, becoming an imp.

"Hello, Haitius."

"I see you have the girl," Haitius said, nodding towards the demon's jacket.

"Yes, I do," he replied. His eyes flashed brightly and he smirked. "And not without better timing.

"Now," the demon said, turning, "let us dispose of the evidence."

~X~~~0~~~X~

"Can we gooo yeeet?"

"For the fifteenth time, Mr. Sutcliffe, the answer is 'no'."

"But we've been here for sooo _looong!_" the redhead complained, dramatically throwing his head back.

"Hehehe~" the Undertaker snickered. "The young are so impatient~"

"How very true," William agreed, sighing.

"_Hey!_" Grell stood up, rocking the boat.

"No one cares to hear your complaints again, Mr. Sutcliffe," William informed him. "And please stop tilting our boat."

"No, no, not that!" Grell pointed towards the island. "_That!_ The island's glowing!"

"What?" William turned towards the island and stared. Indeed, there was now a glow emanating from the isle, the fog swarming into it.

"Tch!" Raising his death scythe, he extended it, calling out for the other Reapers' attention. A slight but very noticeable incline towards the island got the message across.

The demonic light emitted shadows, ridding the island of natural light. The fog of souls was throwing itself into the light, incinerating itself, wailing and screeching.

_The souls of the damned would give anything for oblivion, _William thought bitterly. _Even allowing their own world to be damned instead._

He glared at the island. "This is why demons are such a pain."

**~X~~~0~~~X~**

**So, what did you think? Is that enough of a plot for you guys? I kind admit that it's not my best work, but at least it's finally up. Darn procrastination. **

**Please review! It'll help me get through the rest of this fic! ^u^**


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